* Interceptor key part of next phase of missile shield
* Components “performed as designed” – Pentagon
* Earlier test failed, caused Raytheon production delay
By Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON, May 10 (Reuters) – U.S. forces destroyed a
target missile near Hawaii late on Wednesday in the first
successful test of a new Raytheon Co interceptor, the
Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency said.
The advanced Standard Missile-3 interceptor was designed to
play a central role in the next phase of an anti-missile shield
being built by the United States to guard NATO allies.
“Initial indications are that all components performed as
designed,” the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said in an emailed
statement.
An earlier test of the U.S. Navy’s newest interceptor,
called SM-3 Block 1B, had failed to intercept its target in
September, leading to a delay in Raytheon production.
In the drill, a short-range ballistic target missile was
launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, located on
Kauai, Hawaii, MDA said.
The interceptor came from the USS Lake Erie, a cruiser that
used Lockheed Martin Corp ‘s “Aegis” ballistic missile
defense system to track the target before firing the
interceptor.
The shield being built in Europe involves ground- and
ship-based systems. The SM-3 IB interceptor is to be based on
land in Romania by 2015 in Phase 2 of President Barack Obama’s
“phased adaptive” approach to European missile defense, as well
as on Aegis-equipped ships.
Two more tests of the new version are scheduled to take
place this year. Missile production decisions “will be made
based upon system performance in any or all of the tests,”
Richard Lehner, an MDA spokesman, told Reuters by email.
