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.