July 12, 2006 :: The Missile Defense Agency :: News
MDA today announced that the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system successfully destroyed a non-separating Hera target missile over White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The pre-dawn test was the third of five tests planned at White Sands Missile Range to determine the effectiveness of the THAAD system.
While the previous two THAAD flight tests, also conducted at White Sands Missile Range, were focused on interceptor fly-out and performance, the remaining flight test program is providing verification of the integrated THAAD element at increasingly difficult levels. Further testing is planned for both White Sands and in the Pacific. In all, the nine-year program to develop the defense system has cost about $4 billion.
“This was phenomenal,” said U.S. Army Col. Charles Driessnack, the project manager for the Missile Defense Agency’s THAAD program. “It performed as expected.” This specific test demonstrated THAAD’s ability to “completely destroy that warhead so that no chemical or nuclear residue would contaminate areas” below the explosion, Driessnack said.
The target was a Hera missile that closely mimicked the characteristics of a SCUD missile. The Hera target carried a canister of inert material to simulate chemical or biological elements such as could be mounted on an enemy missile, Driessnack said. The target missile rose roughly 200 miles above the Earth before beginning the final stage descent toward land.
Of particular interest are Driessnack’s comments that this test indicates THAAD could be ready for emergency deployment “as soon as a year from now.” Driessnack said the system could be used “to protect our East and West coasts” from missile attack, and will be readily deployable to any region, including as part of homeland defense protection.
THAAD is designed to destroy short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in their terminal flight phase, just seconds before they hit their intended targets. MDA plans to deploy two THAAD units, each consisting of 24 missiles, the first in 2009 and the second by December 2011, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office. (Article)
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