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Demonstrating again that anti-missile missiles work best under carefully controlled circumstances, a test of such a weapon fired from Hawaii has missed its target.
The US$30 million test was fired from the Kauai Aegis Ashore site in Hawaii. It was supposed to see a SM-3 Block IIA anti-missile missile intercept a target representing an incoming missile that was launched from an aircraft.
The US Pacific Command, contacted by CNN, confirmed that a test took place but not the outcome, saying only that the test took place on Wednesday morning.
The Raytheon SM-3 Block IIA is a joint US-Japan development built to provide a defence against medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
Defense News noted that without further information from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) it's impossible to know whether the problem was in the interceptor, the targeting radar, or the Raytheon-developed Aegis weapons system used by the US Navy was at fault.
Additional Coverage at DefenseNews and USNI News.
The Raytheon SM-3 Block IIA Interceptor.
(Score: 5, Funny) by kazzie on Friday February 02 2018, @01:01PM (5 children)
Perhaps somebody used an anti-anti-missile missile missile on the anti-missile missile.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Gaaark on Friday February 02 2018, @01:52PM (1 child)
How many missiles could an anti-missile missile missile if an anti-missile missile could missile an anti-missile missile?
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Friday February 02 2018, @11:40PM
It looks like you dropped a missile there, behind the second "anti-missile missile". Oops, there goes North Korea.
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(Score: 4, Interesting) by Bobs on Friday February 02 2018, @05:13PM (2 children)
Funny.
But that is one of the key problems with anti-missile tech: the counter measures are simpler, cheaper and readily available.
And we have trouble hitting things during rigged demos with no counter-measures.
Now imagine the effective intercept rate when they add in simple stuff like chaff, balloons, decoys, etc.
Then active counter-measures like jamming, spinning the system, etc.
Personally, if I was trying to get thru a working anti nuke-missile system and it absolutely, positively had to get there, I would blow one (or more) early to blind the sensors, and then the rest, a little behind, should be in the clear.
Everybody loses in a nuclear war.
FYI:
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday February 03 2018, @12:58AM (1 child)
Actually the record is pretty good. [missiledefenseadvocacy.org]
What a lot of people don't realize is that we are simultaneously bringing on line a wide variety of anti-missiles.
Navy (mostly) "Standard Missiles" of several vintages,
Ground Based Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
Of these the GMD has the worst record at just over 50%, but it is also the most ambitious.
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(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday February 03 2018, @01:18AM
The Euro countries are testing too. Their record is here [missiledefenseadvocacy.org] .
However, they are concentrated almost solely on point defense (similar to THAAD) of a city or a ship rather than a mid-course destruction.
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