Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Bloomberg.com
May 14, 2008 By Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News
The Pentagon's next attempted intercept of a surrogate enemy missile has been delayed until at least October from July because of a component failure.
The $100 million exercise was originally planned to occur in April, then was rescheduled for July. It's now been delayed at least another three months to October and possibly November, said Richard Lehner, a spokesman for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.
A failed L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. device housed in the test interceptor's warhead must be replaced, Lehner said. The device transmits missile performance data to ground stations monitoring the flight. The telemetry device failed during a February check, Lehner said. Boeing Co. is the prime contractor on the program that includes Raytheon Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp.
“It makes no sense to conduct the test if there is a known possibility that performance data might be lost if the telemetry unit malfunctions,” Lehner said in an e-mailed statement.
The delay means that at least 12 months will lapse since the last test, a successful intercept on Sept. 28, 2007. Pentagon Director of Operational Testing Charles McQueary told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month that the current system of interceptors in Alaska and California has demonstrated a “limited capability” to intercept North Korean missiles.
“If you want something statistically significant, you need to run multiple tests in order to have high confidence that the system is going to work,” McQueary said.
The system of ground-based interceptors linked by satellites, radar and communications networks is the latest version of a missile-defense system that President Ronald Reagan envisioned in a March 1983 speech.
The Pentagon wants to spend $50 billion through 2013 to expand the number of systems available for destroying a ballistic missile during the various stages of flight. The Bush administration is requesting $10.5 billion for missile defense in fiscal 2009, including $719.8 million to start building the defense system in Europe.
Victoria Samson, a missile defense analyst with the non- partisan Center for Defense Information, said the delay helps the agency “avoid the risk or embarrassment of a test failure” as the Bush administration attempts to gather political support for missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic.
“They also have the added benefit of holding the next test” probably “after the election and after any decisions are made by Congress about missile defense funding for fiscal 2009,” she said.
The Missile Defense Agency is awaiting delivery of the new telemetry unit, but there is no specific date, Lehner said.
Jennifer Pupa, a spokeswoman for New York-based L-3 Communications, had no immediate comment.
Boeing in an e-mailed statement didn't say whether San Diego, California-based L-3 Communications-West is replacing the unit free of charge.
“The program is a highly complex system, and whenever a quality issue arises, we take it very seriously,” Boeing said. “We are reviewing possible courses of action with our supply chain regarding some telemetry equipment which is used for test purposes but which is not used with any operational system.”
May 14, 2008 By Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News
The Pentagon's next attempted intercept of a surrogate enemy missile has been delayed until at least October from July because of a component failure.
The $100 million exercise was originally planned to occur in April, then was rescheduled for July. It's now been delayed at least another three months to October and possibly November, said Richard Lehner, a spokesman for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.
A failed L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. device housed in the test interceptor's warhead must be replaced, Lehner said. The device transmits missile performance data to ground stations monitoring the flight. The telemetry device failed during a February check, Lehner said. Boeing Co. is the prime contractor on the program that includes Raytheon Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp.
“It makes no sense to conduct the test if there is a known possibility that performance data might be lost if the telemetry unit malfunctions,” Lehner said in an e-mailed statement.
The delay means that at least 12 months will lapse since the last test, a successful intercept on Sept. 28, 2007. Pentagon Director of Operational Testing Charles McQueary told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month that the current system of interceptors in Alaska and California has demonstrated a “limited capability” to intercept North Korean missiles.
“If you want something statistically significant, you need to run multiple tests in order to have high confidence that the system is going to work,” McQueary said.
The system of ground-based interceptors linked by satellites, radar and communications networks is the latest version of a missile-defense system that President Ronald Reagan envisioned in a March 1983 speech.
The Pentagon wants to spend $50 billion through 2013 to expand the number of systems available for destroying a ballistic missile during the various stages of flight. The Bush administration is requesting $10.5 billion for missile defense in fiscal 2009, including $719.8 million to start building the defense system in Europe.
Victoria Samson, a missile defense analyst with the non- partisan Center for Defense Information, said the delay helps the agency “avoid the risk or embarrassment of a test failure” as the Bush administration attempts to gather political support for missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic.
“They also have the added benefit of holding the next test” probably “after the election and after any decisions are made by Congress about missile defense funding for fiscal 2009,” she said.
The Missile Defense Agency is awaiting delivery of the new telemetry unit, but there is no specific date, Lehner said.
Jennifer Pupa, a spokeswoman for New York-based L-3 Communications, had no immediate comment.
Boeing in an e-mailed statement didn't say whether San Diego, California-based L-3 Communications-West is replacing the unit free of charge.
“The program is a highly complex system, and whenever a quality issue arises, we take it very seriously,” Boeing said. “We are reviewing possible courses of action with our supply chain regarding some telemetry equipment which is used for test purposes but which is not used with any operational system.”