Interceptor ‘Completely Obliterated’ Mock Missile, Pentagon Says
- Missile defense chief says threats can be countered to 2020
- Critic questions if test matched ‘real-world’ conditions
The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency released a video that it says shows the a ground-based interceptor successfully destroying a mock intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday. (Source: Bloomberg)
A Raytheon Co. warhead “completely obliterated” a mock intercontinental ballistic missile in a test that shows the U.S.’s $36 billion ground-based defense system can defeat any long-range threat North Korea or Iran can develop through 2020, a top Pentagon official said.
The test on Tuesday showed the system based in Alaska and California “helps us outpace the threat” while a new warhead to be deployed by 2019 “will be the next step to improving reliability and performance against the evolving threat,” Vice Admiral James Syring, director of the Missile Defense Agency, told reporters Wednesday on a conference call.