Lockheed Missile Fails Target Test Again

A Lockheed Martin missile system under development for the Army failed in its fourth attempt to successfully shoot down a target in a test, the Pentagon announced. The test failure in the $16.7-billion theater high-altitude area defense system will almost certainly force the Army to delay the scheduled 2004 deployment of the missile defense system, which has been a top priority for the Pentagon since the Gulf War. The missile system is intended to protect troops from enemy ballistic missiles. Thursday’s failure is only the latest in a long string of disappointments from the vast spending on missile defense systems since the Reagan administration’s Strategic Defense Initiative.