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Failed Test Not to Slow NMD Deployment Time
U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen said Monday the failure of the proposed U.S. National Missile Defense (NMD) system test was "not fatal," and does not automatically mean the Clinton administration will abandon its goal of having it ready for use by 2005.
In his first public comments on Saturday's test failure, Cohen said he would await a full report of the test before making his recommendation to President Bill Clinton, who is expected to decide later this summer whether to go ahead with construction of the first phase of the system.
Early Saturday, a U.S. interceptor missile failed to hit a speeding target warhead in space in a 100-million-U.S.-dollar test of the system. The warhead-busting "kill vehicle" failed to separate from its booster rocket and passed harmlessly by the target missile.
"What I need to do is sit down with all the experts and get their best judgment in terms of the feasibility of this system," Cohen told reporters en route to China. His plane stopped at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska State to refuel.
"The test itself was a disappointment but it was one of those failures that was least expected, something that was routine," Cohen said.
"It would have been desirable to have two successful intercepts, but it doesn't mean the technology is not there yet," he said. "I still could make a recommendation."
The Defense Department, meanwhile, continued to analyze the latest test failure, while a spokesman for its Ballistic Missile Defense Organization said, "We're going to press forward" for another test as early as October.
The anti-missile system is designed to provide protection for all 50 U.S. states against ballistic missile attacks from other countries.
Arms control experts said the U.S. NMD, opposed by the international community, will not only spark a new arms race, but also threaten security and stimulate nuclear proliferation, instead of promoting security and stemming the spread of nuclear weapons.
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