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thedrifter
04-07-07, 03:41 PM
Missile defense test near Hawaii successful
By Audrey McAvoy - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Apr 7, 2007 15:42:21 EDT

HONOLULU — The U.S. military shot down a Scud-type missile off a Hawaiian island in a missile defense test, the Missile Defense Agency said.

It was the second successful test this year of technology the Pentagon is developing to defend larger areas than ones that can be protected by Patriot missile defenses already deployed in South Korea, Japan and other places.

A ship fired the target missile the night of Thursday, April 5. Three minutes later, soldiers with the U.S. Army’s 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade launched an interceptor missile that destroyed the target over the Pacific Ocean.

Like the Patriot anti-missile defenses, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system is designed to knock out ballistic missiles in their final minute of flight.

Unlike the Patriot system, however, it is designed to intercept targets at higher altitudes, allowing it to defend a larger area.

Pam Rogers, a Missile Defense Agency spokeswoman, said the new system is designed to complement Patriot defenses, not replace them.

The THAAD system had its first successful test last year at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. It had another successful test on Jan. 27 in Hawaii.

The Missile Defense Agency moved its THAAD testing to Hawaii because the New Mexico testing range was not large enough for the military to do the testing it wanted, Rogers said.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet already has installed some ballistic missile tracking technology on cruisers and destroyers in the Pacific. Some ships also have interceptor missiles on board.

Ellie