It’s the next generation in missile defense. Given the threats leveled at the United States by North Korea’s increasingly worrying antics and China’s impressive new intercontinental dong, it’s only natural that the US would want to improve its defensive capabilities. Enter the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s latest initiative, a $100 million dollar ground-based interceptor system deploying Raytheon’s Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) to knock oncoming missiles out of the sky. Well, knock the missiles out of the sky in theory, anyway. The first major test of the new missile interceptor system was a failure, according to Missile Defense Agency spokesman Rick Lehner.
A missile was launched from the Kwalgalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. An interceptor was fired from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The two were expected to meet in an explosive connection over the Pacific Ocean. Instead, the interceptor missed and the missile fell harmlessly into the ocean. No one’s really sure why the interceptor missed. The guiding radar of the new missile defense system, the $800 million dollar Sea-Based X-Band Radar, worked perfectly. The interceptor just flat-out missed the target.
The military will conduct a full investigation before conducting any more tests.
Tags: Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle, EKV, U.S. Missile Defense Agency, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, missile test fails, US missile defense test fails, missile interceptor fails, Rick Lehner, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, missile interceptor test fails, missile interceptor misses, Raytheon, Sea-Based X-Band Radar