| May 23, 2007 |  |
Another Contrived Missile Defense Test is Coming Up
Decoys Would Overwhelm System, Says Union of Concerned Scientists
WASHINGTON (May 23, 2007)—An intercept test for the U.S. ground-based midcourse missile defense system is scheduled to take place as early as tomorrow morning, weather permitting. The test was originally scheduled for last December, but was delayed by software problems.
“Coming in the midst of a congressional funding debate, a hit or miss is likely to be taken as a sign of the health of the program,” said David Wright, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and co-director of the organization’s Global Security Program. “But the test will tell little or nothing about whether the system will be able to intercept attacking warheads.”
Given that the system is still in early stages of research and development, the tests are highly scripted and artificial, Wright said. There has been only one successful intercept test of the ground-based system since October 2002. And the upcoming test is only the second one to use the interceptor booster that is intended to be part of a deployed system.
The purpose of the tests is to develop a system that can guide a “kill vehicle” to collide with an identifiable target warhead. But, Wright pointed out, accomplishing this difficult technical step does not address the biggest challenge a working defense would have to face: decoys. The test slated for tomorrow will include no decoys or other countermeasures that would keep the system from identifying which object it should intercept.
“Until the system shows it can deal with decoys, it is irrelevant to stopping real-world threats,” Wright added. “Until that happens, Congress should stop spending money for more interceptors.”
As a joint UCS-MIT technical analysis “Countermeasures” concluded, any country capable of building a long-range missile and nuclear warhead could build effective countermeasures to put on the missile. Missile Defense Agency claims that the mock warheads in its tests are “threat representative” ignore these facts, Wright said.
The upcoming test appears to be essentially a repeat of the test that took place last September. A mock warhead will be launched from Kodiak, Alaska, with an interceptor launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
The Union of Concerned Scientists puts rigorous, independent science to work to solve our planet's most pressing problems. Joining with citizens across the country, we combine technical analysis and effective advocacy to create innovative, practical solutions for a healthy, safe, and sustainable future.
