11 July 2000 Defense Dept. Report: Cohen to Make NMD Recommendation in Three to Four Weeks After Reviewing Analysis Responding to questions following the failure of a National Missile Defense intercept test July 8, Navy Rear Admiral Craig Quigley said that Defense Secretary William Cohen intends to make his recommendation to President Clinton "within three to four weeks" on whether to deploy an NMD System. Speaking at the regular Pentagon briefing July 11, the deputy spokesman said that Cohen will make his recommendation based on technical feasibility and cost. Updates on reasons for the test's failure will not be given for approximately two weeks, Quigley said, "because we're not going to release half-baked data. We want to make sure that we understand before we make any definitive statements as to cause." Recapping the failed flight test, Quigley said that Defense Department observers of the test had expected to see video, but "There was no video....We had radar imagery and we had other means, but the one that we were focusing on for the instantaneous feedback was the visual. And that never materialized," he said, explaining why no immediate announcement of results was made. Quigley said a video link would have furnished "a clear picture image" of a bright flash, had the planned intercept of a ballistic missile target by the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) taken place. The absence of the video indicated that there was no separation between the Payload Launch Vehicle (PLV) booster rocket and the EKV, he said, although Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) officials did not understand that at once. Asked if the test scheduled for October or November could be moved up to August or September, before President Clinton makes a decision, Quigley said there are currently "no such plans to do that." The reason is partly technical, he said, explaining that the kill vehicle being used is a prototype. "There is another one still being assembled to match that October-November date for the next scheduled test, Flight Test Six," he continued, saying that "to accelerate that at this point would be extraordinarily difficult (and) a very high risk sort of circumstance." (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) Return to the Washington File