Four U.S. Missile Defense Tests Planned for 2006

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency plans to conduct four tests of its Ground-based Midcourse Defense system in 2006, the Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner reported today (see GSN, Jan. 9).

Three of the tests are expected to involve target missile firings from the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska. Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is also expected to host its first interceptor test.

The first test should take place in “a couple months” and will not involve firing an interceptor at the target missile, Missile Defense Agency spokesman Rick Lehner said yesterday. The test will be focused on gathering data for missile-tracking radars.

Three interceptor tests are expected at Vandenberg, according to the News-Miner.   First would be a test launch with no target missile, followed by a “data-collection fly-by” in which a target is fired from Kodiak but no intercept is planned, Lehner said.

The fourth test of the year would be an intercept attempt, he said, with the target launched from Kodiak and the interceptor from Vandenberg (Sam Bishop, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Jan. 11).

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