US missile defence 'ready'

2006-10-10 08:36

Washington - A US army missile defence system has proven it can hit enemy ballistic missiles and is now in place in Hawaii where it could be used to respond to any threats from North Korea, a top programme official said after a reported nuclear test by Pyongyang on Monday.

The missile defence agency, which oversees the programme, also expects to sign a contract with Lockheed Martin early next year for additional units of the developmental system, known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD), Colonel Charles Driessnack said at the annual meeting of the association of the US army.

Asked if the system could be declared operational to respond to the current crisis over the North Korean test, he said the system had proven it could intercept enemy missiles and was now positioned "where it could do an operation".

THAAD is designed to destroy enemy ballistic missiles during the final phase of flight. It is part of the Bush administration's complex missile defence system and is slated to become operational only in 2009.

Taepodong 2 test

Driessnack compared the system's state of readiness to that of another part of the missile defence system, which was activated briefly in July to guard against a Taepodong 2 missile test-fired by North Korea.

Like that system, THAAD would continue testing while being on alert for use as needed, he said.

Testing would continue even after expected initial deployment of the system in 2009.

Equipment in Hawaii

The missile defence agency has moved THAAD equipment from the White Sands Missile range in New Mexico to the vast Pacific missile range facility on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, with the last airplane carrying equipment arriving there on October 4, Driessnack said.

The move helped test and prove the agency's ability to deploy the system around the world, he added.

Testing at the larger Pacific range, which stretches as far as the distance from Texas to Canada, will allow for more robust tests against missiles launched from ships and eliminates the need for a corkscrew manoeuvre required at White Sands due to space limitations.

- Reuters