Rocket Scores Third Hit in Missile Shield Tests

A U.S. interceptor rocket knocked a dummy warhead out of the sky 144 miles over the South Pacific on Monday night for the third successful test of a missile defense system prototype, the Pentagon said.

The interceptor, launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, collided with the warhead about 7:30 p.m. PST, the military said. The test was nearly identical to a successful one in July.

Bad weather had blocked the test launch Saturday and Sunday and delayed Monday’s launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for nearly an hour. The successful test means the United States can move toward more complex and realistic trials of antimissile systems.

Critics say the tests are too costly and unrealistic, arguing that long-range missiles are a minor threat. Missile defense backers, including President Bush, say a defense system is needed to counter the threat of hostile nations developing and aiming long-range missiles at the United States.

A modified Minuteman II missile took off from Vandenberg at 6:59 p.m. PST, the Pentagon said. Instead of explosives, its warhead carried sensors to track its progress during the test.

The dummy warhead also carries a large balloon to be jettisoned in an attempt to fool the interceptor--a tactic that the interceptor in this test was programmed to ignore.

After 22 minutes, the interceptor missile was launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific. That missile carried a “kill vehicle” that homed in on the dummy warhead to collide at 15,000 mph and destroy it in space.

Critics say the fact that the interceptor before its launch got precise location data from the dummy warhead makes the test unrealistic.

The head of the Pentagon’s Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish, said last week that the test was designed to test only certain parts of the interceptor system and was not meant to be realistic.

Monday’s test was the fifth in the missile defense program. The interceptor knocked down a dummy warhead in two of the four previous tests, including a nearly identical one in July. Each test costs about $100 million.

Russia has objected to the U.S. missile defense program, saying it will eventually violate the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty. That pact bans missile defense systems so that a nation could not develop a shield behind which it could safely launch a missile attack.