WP: Test of Missile Defense System Delayed Again (until after election)

[DeepModem Mom]

Test of Missile Defense System Delayed Again

By Bradley Graham
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 14, 2004; Page A02


The Pentagon's last hope of flight-testing critical new elements of an antimissile system, before activating the system this autumn, appeared to vanish yesterday with the disclosure that the next flight test has been postponed until late this year, well past the November election.

The Air Force general in charge of the program said the setback will not affect plans to begin operating the system in the next month or two. But the delay leaves the Pentagon pressing ahead with a system that will not have been flight-tested in nearly two years -- and never with the actual interceptor that will be deployed.

The postponement also comes against the backdrop of a wide disparity in estimates about the system's likely effectiveness that has emerged among key Pentagon officials.

The Pentagon's chief weapons evaluator has calculated that the system may be capable of hitting its targets only about 20 percent of the time. The Missile Defense Agency (MDA), which is responsible for developing the system, offers estimates of greater than 80 percent, according to several officials familiar with the classified figures....

***

Democratic lawmakers and other critics of the system accused the administration yesterday of playing politics with the test schedule, seeking to avoid the risk of an embarrassing flop during the presidential campaign....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18975-2004Sep13.html

[izzie]

1. The test do not work unless they rig it so it will.

This has been reported for years. The system has to have the information on the incoming shot to knock it out.

[htuttle]

8. They gain nothing by testing it right now

Since the point of it is not to shoot down missiles, but to procure contracts for their cronies.

No test will come out as well as we'd expect it to, given both it's cost and the amount of time they've been working on the problem, so a test would just provide ammo to people against the project. Ergo, they skip the tests, and just call the project 'a success'.

Given their real objective -- contract procurement -- I suppose it is a success.

[FloridaPat]

2. $1 trillion. Gee, what could we do with a trillion dollars.

Where were the Democrats when they brought this back from the dead in 2001? 20% of the time is a generous amount. How many more lies do We the People have to pay for?

[unfrigginreal]

3. Calling Colonel Burton...

your services are needed in the Pentagon AGAIN.

[teryang]

4. Another government disgrace

...when will it end?

[mbperrin]

5. Reagan took close to $2 trillion from the Social Security

surplus the first time for this shit! So $3 trillion now and nothing to show? Good job! (Hey, why worry about retirement? There's lots of aluminum cans to pick up and sell!)

[tabasco]

6. The Greatest Scam of All Time !

The money for this worthless project will end up in Bush crony bank accounts in foreign countries. Buying this pipe dream reduces our national security by diverting money from areas where it is really needed, such as port security and border patrols.

[IndianaGreen]

7. Missile defense only works as a video game

It has never worked before, and it never will.

[tabasco]

9. The Russians know this.

That's why they were so willing to let us scrap the ABM Treaty. They are perfectly willing to sit back and watch the neocons spend our Nation into ruin.

[daleo]

10. It is like the mad cow disease situation

Why test something, if you know you won't like the answer?

[struggle4progress]

11. kick for boondoggles

:kick: