Blaming the test failure on radar problems, American military officials on Sunday reported that a test firing of a system intended to intercept long-range ballistic missiles missed its target. The missile was fired from a Pacific island and the intercepting missile was fired from California, missing its intended target.

The Vandenberg Air Force Base Website reported that the target missile was launched from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands on Sunday. The interceptor missile was launched from California’s central coast. It appears the system’s sea-based x-band radar malfunctioned.

Officials from the Missile Defense Agency promise a thorough investigation.

IDF Major-General (reserves) Yitzchak Ben-Yisrael agreed to speak with Kol Chai Radio, commenting on the reported test failure. The senior officer has a wealth of experience in system developments, in IDF intelligence and the IAF as well as in the Defense Ministry’s technological development unit.

He explained that “this is what tests are for and it was not actually a failure, but a test of development progress of the system”. Such failures he explained are not uncommon, and in this case, the system is intended to provide a response for extremely long-term threats.

Comparing it to the Arrow system, Ben-Yisrael explained the Arrow is developed and eventually, the project is completed. The Arrow he explains provides a response to missile threats from hundreds to a few thousand kilometers, no more, while the American system tested on Sunday is geared to other threats since “the Americans have to contend with intercontinental threats”.

Asked about Iran, he explained that America has the technology in place to respond to any possible Iranian threat that exists today. He explained at best, Iran today can fire a missile 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) but a rocket fired G-d forbid from Russia to the United States is a system that travels 10,000 kilometers (6,000 miles).

Inside the missile there are devices recording millions of parameters regarding the test firing and the experts will undoubtedly analyze the data and hopefully learn why the rocket firing was not successful.

The longer-range a missile is, the faster it travels and this poses different challenges. The missiles they eventually want to place in Eastern Europe would be such longer-range Russian missiles but this was scrapped at the end due to Russian agreement for sanctions placed on Iran.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)