US missile defense test fails: Pentagon
WASHINGTON: America's missile defense system failed on Friday in a test over the Pacific, with an interceptor failing to hit an incoming ballistic missile, the Pentagon said.
The miss represented yet another setback for the costly ground-based interceptors, which have not had a successful test result since 2008.
The test's objective was to have an interceptor, launched from Vandenberg air base in California, knock out a long-range ballistic missile fired from a US military test site at Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands.
But "an intercept was not achieved," US Missile Defense Agency spokesman Richard Lehner said in a brief statement.
"Program officials will conduct an extensive review to determine the cause or causes of any anomalies which may have prevented a successful intercept," it said.
The anti-missile weapon has run into repeated technical problems, with tests delayed after two failures in 2010.
The United States has 30 of the ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California, at a cost of about $34 billion. They are supposed to counter the potential threat posed by North Korea, which has tried to develop long-range ballistic missiles.
The Pentagon wants to deploy an additional 14 ground-based interceptors to bases in Alaska, at a cost of about $1 billion, also in response to what Washington deems a growing threat from North Korea.
Some lawmakers also are pushing to open a new missile defense site on the country's East Coast, in case Iran or other adversaries obtain long-range missiles.
Critics of the missile defense program are sure to seize on the test result as further proof that the system faces insurmountable technical hurdles.
US missile defense test fails: Pentagon - The Times of India
WASHINGTON: America's missile defense system failed on Friday in a test over the Pacific, with an interceptor failing to hit an incoming ballistic missile, the Pentagon said.
The miss represented yet another setback for the costly ground-based interceptors, which have not had a successful test result since 2008.
The test's objective was to have an interceptor, launched from Vandenberg air base in California, knock out a long-range ballistic missile fired from a US military test site at Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands.
But "an intercept was not achieved," US Missile Defense Agency spokesman Richard Lehner said in a brief statement.
"Program officials will conduct an extensive review to determine the cause or causes of any anomalies which may have prevented a successful intercept," it said.
The anti-missile weapon has run into repeated technical problems, with tests delayed after two failures in 2010.
The United States has 30 of the ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California, at a cost of about $34 billion. They are supposed to counter the potential threat posed by North Korea, which has tried to develop long-range ballistic missiles.
The Pentagon wants to deploy an additional 14 ground-based interceptors to bases in Alaska, at a cost of about $1 billion, also in response to what Washington deems a growing threat from North Korea.
Some lawmakers also are pushing to open a new missile defense site on the country's East Coast, in case Iran or other adversaries obtain long-range missiles.
Critics of the missile defense program are sure to seize on the test result as further proof that the system faces insurmountable technical hurdles.
US missile defense test fails: Pentagon - The Times of India
