Haaretz
Posted: 2007-10-29 20:50:49 [1]
A test of a missile defense system successfully intercepted a ballistic target, the U.S. military said on Saturday, constituting a boost to the development of an anti-missile shield program.
The Lockheed Martin Corp.-built Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) program tested Saturday is one of two emergency missile defense [2] systems which Israel is interested in the U.S. deploying within Israeli territory.
THAAD is designed to defend troops, population centers and critical facilities against short- to medium-range ballistic missiles of a type that could be fired by Iran or North Korea. The system could also be sold to U.S. allies like Israel.
The heads of the Homa anti-missile project in the Defense Ministry asked the U.S. Department of Defense about two months ago for information on THAAD and a new model of the Aegis naval defense system.
The hit on Saturday by THAAD program was the fourth in as many tests and involved intercepting the missile outside the Earth's atmosphere, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said.
Israeli military representatives, along with their counterparts from Australia and the United Arab Emirates, observed the test conducted off the island of Kauai in Hawaii, said Riki Ellison, who heads a missile defense advocacy group funded in part by military contractors.
The test conducted late Friday evening was designed to show how the radar, launcher, fire control equipment and procedures of the system worked together, as well as the interceptor detecting and destroying the target using only the force of the collision.
THAAD has components which are not part of the present generation of Israel's Arrow anti-missile system, which is currently used by the Israel Air Force.
Washington sources have estimated that the U.S. will be able to provide Israel with the system in 2009, after the conclusion of further testing.
The system is a part of a broader U.S. anti-missile shield and is the only one able to engage targets in or outside the atmosphere.