Army Lt. Gen. Patrick J. O'Reilly, director of the Missile Defense Agency, briefs reporters at the Pentagon, Dec. 5, 2008, on the successful test of the Ground-based Mid-course Interceptor. DoD photo by R.D. Ward From U.S. Department Of Defense
WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2008 – The military today shot down a mock enemy missile, employing a synchronized network of sensors in what officials called the largest and most complex test of the missile defense system to date.
Click photo for screen-resolution image
Army Lt. Gen. Patrick J. O'Reilly, director of the Missile Defense Agency, briefs reporters at the Pentagon, Dec. 5, 2008, on the successful test of the Ground-based Mid-course Interceptor. DoD photo by R.D. Ward
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
A mock target missile was fired from Kodiak, Alaska, at 3:04 p.m. Eastern Time. An interceptor missile was fired about 30 minutes later from a silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., with its launch directed by soldiers based at Fort Greely, Alaska. The two successfully collided off the coast of California minutes later.
This is the first time the Defense Missile Agency has synchronized its network of varied sensor types and frequencies to successfully track, report and intercept a single target, the agency’s top officer said.
If the multiple radars did not work together, each would have reported a different target to the system.
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My Comment: This is impressive. Every military agency in the world was probably looking and analyzing this test as it was being conducted. I predict that in the next few weeks some military establishments in the world are going to sit down with their political masters and report on some very disturbing results.