Jacqui Porth, Washington File, November 22, 2002

Washington -- The U.S. Navy and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) recorded a successful test November 21 demonstrating the ability of a missile fired from an Aegis-class cruiser to intercept a "hostile" missile during its ascent.

The missile test, dubbed Flight Mission-4 (FM-4), involved the firing of a developmental Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) from the USS Lake Erie which engaged a ballistic missile target launched from a missile range on Kauai, Hawaii. The target was a modified, single-stage Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile.

"Achieving an intercept in the ascent phase is a significant development for the Aegis BMD (Ballistic Missile Defense) system," according to the chairman of the German Marshall Institute Robert Jastrow.

"This is the third successful test in the past year and the first in a series of increasingly more complex tests," according to Jastrow. With this success, he said, the Aegis missile defense system "is appreciably closer to deployment" as it "demonstrates the expansion of the system's capabilities." Two earlier tests successfully occurred when the target was, instead, intercepted in its descent phase.

A November 21 Defense Department press release says this was the first in a series of six flight tests "to develop an emergency deployment sea-based ballistic missile defense against short-to-medium range ballistic missiles." It describes this developmental flight test as the first using "more complex and stressing ballistic missile engagement scenarios." A National Journal account of the successful interception indicates that it was accomplished "without [the provision of] any external information."

The next missile intercept test is scheduled for December 11 and it will be conducted at night.

John Bolton, under secretary of state for arms control and international security, says the United States has invited Russia to observe a mid-course interceptor flight test tentatively scheduled for December. He told the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) conference in London on November 18 that the U.S.-Russian working group on missile defense met earlier this month to continue work on transparency issues. He also said the Russians plan to visit missile defense facilities at Fort Greeley, Alaska.

MDA is hoping to have a sea-based missile defense system readied for possible emergency deployment against shorter- and medium-range missiles by 2005 or so.

MDA Director Lieutenant General Ronald Kadish, who also addressed the RUSI conference on missile defense November 18, said he anticipates having "effective defenses against a multiple range of threats" within about five years.

The United States is looking for mechanisms to offset costs of the development program. "We have offered potential partners government-to-government agreements, in-kind agreements -- not necessarily monetary," he said.

"Or, we could cooperate with entities such as NATO or a construct that might arise out of this discussion," Kadish said.

The final communiqué issued at the November 21-22 Prague NATO Summit took note of the importance of missile defense. It indicated that the members need to address an increasing missile threat to alliance territory, forces and population centers. It also noted that a new NATO Missile Defense feasibility study has been launched to look at options against a range of missile threats. The communiqué expressed support for enhancing the role of NATO's Weapons of Mass Destruction Center in aiding the alliance in tackling this threat.

Meanwhile, during a November 21 budget briefing at the Pentagon, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Stephen Cambone answered a question about missile defense spending priorities as part of the upcoming budget planning guidance. He said Kadish is proposing a number of programs in the budget, but Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will review the proposals and make a decision to pursue some or all of them. "We did not give them (MDA officials) guidance to reduce the levels" of spending from last year, he added.

The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.