Jordan wrote:
Rand Simberg wrote:
On 1 Sep 2006 13:38:47 -0700, in a place far, far away, "Ed Kyle"
made the phosphor on my monitor glow in such a
way as to indicate that:

Today's 9-1-06 Ground Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) test appears to
have succeeded.

"http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060901/us_nm/arms_missile_usa_dc"
"http://www.mda.mil/mdalink/html/mdalink.html"

A good day for Orbital Science's Pegasus-based Orbital Boost Vehicle
(OBV) Ground Based Interceptor (GBI).

What's amusing is that the Boeing press release buried the lede.

http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/...60901a_nr.html

"Although not a primary objective of the test, the kill vehicle
intercepted the warhead and destroyed it."

Yes, just an inadvertent side effect of a test of a *missile defense
system*.

Indeed, a "missile defense system" which _failed_ to at least
"intercept the warhead and destroy it" would not be the most useful one
imaginable ...

- Jordan

This was the first test involving an operational interceptor fired
from an operational GMD silo, with the interceptor performing its
own tracking and using tracking by the upgraded radar at Beale
AFB, controlled by the mission-control center in Colorado Springs.
That's a lot of stuff working together for the first time. It is no
wonder that an actual intercept was not deemed to be a primary
objective. Icing on the cake that a hit was achieved.

This system has a lot of testing ahead of it, and a lot left to
prove in those tests, before it can be considered truly
operational. Even then, it will only provide a limited capability.
Its main use will be to provide a brief interval of "cover" while
the U.S. nuke arsenal returns fire.

Once operational, the greatest rouge threat might be the use
of conventionally-armed missiles against the U.S., something
like the rain of missiles that fell on Israel recently. Such an
attack would quickly deplete an anit-missile system and it
would be politically impossible to respond to it with nuclear
weapons.

- Ed Kyle