RAMON LOPEZ / HUNTSVILLE
But Russia claims Bush Administration scheme threatens international treaties in sphere of nuclear disarmament
The US Department of Defense's successful missile defence test on 14 July has bolstered US President Bush's hopes for fielding a multi-layered defence network against ballistic missile attack as early as 2004. It also marks the beginning an aggressive testing programme for the weapons.
The critical National Missile Defense (NMD) intercept test took place as Bush Administration officials disclosed their intention to seek alterations to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty with the Soviet Union. This will allow the NMD system and other weapons to counter ballistic missiles fired by "rogue" nations.
Russia strongly opposes NMD, saying the test "threatens all international treaties in the sphere of nuclear disarmament". Moscow last week signed an accord with China which included a section calling for maintenance of the ABM Treaty in its current form.
The USA believes it can negotiate changes to the treaty. Deputy US Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz says the USA's multi-tiered ABM shield will "encounter the constraints imposed by the ABM Treaty. We do not intend to violate that treaty, but to move beyond it through a new security framework that reflects the fact that the Cold War is over and that the US and Russia are not enemies."
The successful ground-launched test involved a prototype interceptor carrying a Raytheon-built exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV). Boeing is prime contractor for the programme, Raytheon is responsible for radars while TRW is providing battle management, command and control. Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space is building the payload launch vehicle.
The target was a modified Boeing Minuteman II ballistic missile with a mock warhead and a single decoy. NMD tests to date have produced mixed results. The first intercept in October 1999 was successful, but flights in January and July of last year failed because of technical problems with the hit-to-kill weapon.
Lt Gen Ronald Kadish, head of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), expressed satisfaction with the latest test, but warns that it represents only "one in a series of many more tests that we need to accomplish. We've got a long road ahead in all the missile defence activities." He says the next NMD test, set for October, may be more complex and involve additional decoys.
Whereas the Clinton Administration concentrated on a ground-based interceptor, the Bush plan will use ground-launched, sea-based (Navy Area and Theater Wide), air (Airborne Laser) and space systems (Space Based Laser and Space Hit-to-Kill) to target short-, medium- and long-range missiles along the length of their trajectories. There is no schedule for deploying the systems, but the DoD says the testing programme is designed to provide some form of defence capability by 2004.
Kadish says the Bush plan includes the creation of a $2 billion "Midcourse Test Bed" which will stretch from Alaska to California and Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific. This is needed to conduct more realistic and frequent missile intercept tests. Kadish adds that the additional ground, sea, booster and Airborne Laser tests will be conducted "in a more disciplined manner from a schedule standpoint".
Up to five additional NMD tests are tabled by the end of next year. BMDO and the US Navy will conduct sea-based tests in September and December, with one additional test every other month after that. Each intercept test will cost about $100 million.
Source: Flight International
