Posted on: Friday, June 14, 2002

Missile hits target off Kaua'i

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer

The Navy yesterday successfully intercepted a target rocket launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kaua'i in the fifth flight test of its Sea-Based Midcourse Ballistic Missile Defense System.

The test demonstrates that an anti-ballistic missile system is feasible with today's technology, Defense Department officials said.

The target, an Aries missile, was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at 3:23 p.m. Hawai'i time. The target's flight was tracked from aboard the Aegis guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie, which was cruising off Kaua'i. Six minutes later, the Lake Erie launched a Standard Missile-3, which was fitted with a kinetic warhead designed to destroy the target by the force of its impact.

The target was intercepted over the ocean northwest of Kaua'i.

Two minutes after the interceptor's launch, the warhead smashed into the Aries rocket in flight, high in the exo-atmosphere. The Navy did not reveal the altitude at which the intercept took place, but in the previous test, in January, the interceptor hit its target about 100 miles above the surface.

This was the second test flight in a row in which the interceptor actually hit the target. The Missile Defense Agency and the Navy said the two strikes demonstrate the "robustness" of the system.

Critics of the testing suggest that the Aries target missiles are substantially larger than the ballistic missile warheads the system would be called upon to shoot down in actual combat situations, and that the testing is not a realistic showing of real-world effectiveness.

But the Pentagon said the tests are not intended to be entirely realistic. The test flight off Kaua'i shows that the system works, and provides extensive engineering data that can be used to improve the missile-defense system, said Chris Taylor, external affairs officer for the Missile Defense Agency.