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Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004

Weather conditions at an Alaska launch site would determine when the test will go forward, said Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency.

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  The $85 million test comes as the military is in final preparations to activate missile defenses designed to protect against an intercontinental ballistic missile attack from North Korea or elsewhere in eastern Asia.

During the test, a target missile will be launched from Kodiak Island, Alaska, and an interceptor missile will fire from Kwajalein Island in the central Pacific Ocean.

Because the launches will test several new aspects of the missile defense system, Lehner said the interceptor actually shooting down the target was not a primary goal of the mission.

The test is the first in which the interceptor uses the same booster rocket that the operational system uses, Lehner said. It is also the first in which a target missile is launched from Kodiak.

In earlier testing, which critics deride as highly scripted, the interceptors went five-for-eight when launched with the goal of hitting target missiles.

Two previous tests scheduled for this year were delayed due to technical problems. The next test, which will attempt to hit a target missile, is scheduled for early 2005.

In April, Air Force Lt. Gen. Ron Kadish, then chief of missile defense programs, said failures in tests could mean "big problems" for the controversial program.

The Bush administration has made the deployment of missile defenses a key aspect of its national security policy, saying it is vital to defend the nation against missiles launched by hostile nations.

Critics charge the technology is neither ready nor affordable, and say it fails to address the greater threat of weapons of mass destruction brought into the country by terrorists or other means.

Sometime this month, the military expects to announce the missile defense system is operational. It is initially built around six interceptors at Fort Greely, Alaska, as well as radars in the Aleutians, in California, and on warships at sea. In addition, two more interceptors will be placed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The Kwajalein interceptor site is for testing only.

The first Vandenberg missile was scheduled to go in its silo Tuesday, but Lehner said that was delayed, and that it is now expected to be in place on Thursday.

Lehner said the missile defense system it technically functional except for mechanical blocks that prevent interceptors from being fired. Senior military officials are still working out chain-of-command authorities over who could order an interceptor launch during an attack, he said.

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