*EPF402 06/14/01
Defense Department Report, June 14: Missile Defense Testing
(Fourth test to be held in July, Kadish says) (370)

The director of the U.S. ballistic missile defense program says that while some anti-missile defense tests have failed, progress still is being made in the testing and development of the multibillion-dollar missile defense project.

"Our missile defense program is developing complex systems that will employ the most advanced technologies," Air Force Lieutenant General Ronald Kadish said in testimony before a House Armed Services subcommittee June 14. "We expect steady progress toward success, even though we anticipate we will have test failures -- failures are an inevitable part of the development process."

Kadish, who is director of the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), said the next test of the defense system, which is designed to intercept and destroy incoming ballistic missiles, will be in July and another is planned for fall 2001.

The most recent intercept test took place in July 2000. The latest two of the defense project's three tests failed.

However, Kadish said it is important to note that the troubles associated with each were unrelated, and can be fixed. "The problems we experienced reflected process problems in basic engineering and fabrication, not underlying flaws in core ballistic missile defense technologies or design," he said.

The test scheduled for summer will give the missile defense developers an opportunity to accomplish what had been planned for the previous test, he said, which is to integrate mid-course elements and functions, and demonstrate operations of satellites and radars used in tracking an incoming ballistic missile.

"The goal of the missile defense development program has been to develop, demonstrate, and deploy a mid-course intercept capability to defend all 50 states against a limited attack involving intercontinental ballistic missiles with countermeasures launched by rogue states, such as North Korea, Iran, and Iraq, and accidental launches from major nuclear powers," Kadish said.

"As with any cutting-edge development program, we must expect setbacks and the possibility that a particular approach we are pursuing is not the right one," he said.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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