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Sunday, 15 July, 2001, 08:42 GMT 09:42 UK
US missile test hits target The missile was launched from Vandenberg base A US interceptor missile has hit a dummy warhead over the Pacific Ocean in a boost for President Bush's controversial missile defence system. It was the first test of the "hit-to-kill" system since George W Bush took office, and the first of a total of four tests to be wholly successful. We believe we have a successful test in all aspects... the kill intercept was confirmed by all of our sensors Lt General Ronald Kadish US military officials at Kwajalein Atoll cheered and clapped as an enormous white flash marked the impact 230km (145 miles) above the Earth. But environmentalists condemned the tests, saying they threatened to re-start a global nuclear arms race. A modified Minuteman II intercontinental-range missile equipped with the mock warhead took off from Vandenberg air force base in California at 0239 GMT. The only apparent problem was a short delay in starting the launch, for which protestors from the environmental organisation Greenpeace claimed responsibility. Lengthy analysis The interceptor was fired 21 minutes later from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The Minuteman II missile left a vapour trail across the sky It managed to disregard the decoy that the Minuteman was carrying and smash into its intended target, the dummy warhead, at 0309GMT. "We believe we have a successful test in all aspects... the kill intercept was confirmed by all of our sensors," said Lt General Ronald Kadish, speaking at the Pentagon. But in a word of caution he warned that it would take around two months to fully analyse the results of the test. Of the past three tests, two were total misses, and even the partially successful test had technical problems. Opposition Greenpeace has voiced its outright opposition to the programme, and said a group of its activists had landed near the launch pad and delayed the launch for as long as 40 minutes. The US system will rely on tracking stations such as Menwith Hill in the UK Spokesman William Peden told the BBC: "We will use every opportunity to make it quite clear that we want the Star Wars programme stopped." Greenpeace also said that Pacific island states still waiting for compensation for nuclear tests carried out decades ago by France and the US were being put at risk again. There is strong international opposition to the programme, which some countries believe contravenes arms control agreements like the 1972 ABM treaty. BBC Moscow correspondent Stephen Dalziel says the Chinese and Russian leaders may well agree a joint statement on their objections to the project after President Jiang Zemin arrives in Moscow on Sunday for a four-day official visit. Both countries are sceptical about the threat posed by countries like North Korea and Iraq, he says, and hawks in both countries suggest that the system could be employed as part of an attack on them. Democrat pressure There are also pressures at home, with key Democrats insisting that the pace of research must be more deliberate and the test programme more rigorous. Many see no reason or need to violate the ABM treaty in the immediate future. But the Bush team seems intent on placing missile defence on a fast track, our Washington correspondent says. In September, testing will begin on a ship-based system. Eventually trials will also begin on a massive laser mounted on a jumbo jet. |
