U.S. NAVY PHOTO VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
A developmental Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) launched from the USS Lake Erie, deployed in the Pacific, yesterday during a Missile Defense Agency test. The interceptor missile missed its airborne target, fired from Kauai, in a failed test of a sea-based missile defense system.
Navy missile test
on Kauai whiffs
intercept attemptIt was the fourth time the
missile was aimed at a rocket;
the 3 prior ones succeeded
BARKING SANDS, Kauai >> A U.S. Navy missile designed to knock down incoming hostile rockets failed to hit its target yesterday during a test at the Pacific Missile Range.
"Preliminary indications are that the Standard Missile-3 deployed the kinetic warhead, but an intercept was not achieved," said Chris Taylor, spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency, which oversees the development of anti-missile weapons by all the armed forces.
The target rocket was fired from Kauai at 1:15 p.m. The cruiser USS Lake Erie fired the Standard-3 missile about two minutes later.
Gov. Linda Lingle and a delegation of business and community leaders had been invited to view the test. The Navy did not say whether the delegation witnessed the failure of the missile to hit its target.
It was the eighth test of the missile at the Pacific Missile Range and the fourth in which the missile was aimed at a target rocket. All three of the prior intercept tests were successes with the missile's warhead hitting and destroying the target rockets with spectacular collisions.
Yesterday's test included what was considered to be an improved guidance system that had worked well in ground tests, Taylor said.
"Government and industry officials will conduct an extensive analysis of the flight test, and the results will be used to improve the Aegis BMD development and testing program," Taylor said.
The program, called the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, has undergone numerous name changes since it began. At various times it was called the Theater Missile Defense system, the Midcourse Missile Defense System and the Sea-Based Missile Defense System.
It is designed to be carried aboard Navy ships equipped with the Aegis target tracking system long used to detect aircraft. The missile is intended to hit incoming hostile rockets at the top of the arc between the launch point and target, when the rocket is at its slowest speed.
The kinetic warhead is designed to smash into the target, literally hitting a bullet with a bullet. Only the latest version of the Army's Patriot missile has that capability now. All others defend against hostile missiles by creating a large explosion with the hope of damaging them.
Taylor did not say whether yesterday's failure would set the test schedule back. A new test has been conducted about every six months, and the Navy is hoping to issue the new missiles to the fleet by 2005.
In addition to the ongoing tests of the Navy's missile, the Pacific Missile Range is preparing to begin testing the Army's Theater High Altitude Air Defense system.
The Army missile is designed to hit hostile rockets as they are on their way down toward their targets. Both the Army and Navy systems will provide defense for large areas within a combat zone.
