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U.S. Speeds THAAD Missile Defense Deployment
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has accelerated plans to test and field the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense missile interceptor system, an agency official said last week (see GSN, July 13). The new schedule calls for deploying the first interceptors by late fiscal 2009 or early fiscal 2010, two years earlier than previous plans, by shortening the testing cycle and training troops at the same time, agency project manager Army Col. Charles Driessnack said during an annual missile defense conference in The THAAD system is designed to intercept enemy warheads in the final phase of flight, either in the upper atmosphere or above. Anticipating the most likely environments for using the system, the agency plans to test first in both desert and humid conditions, leaving other types of testing for later, InsideDefense.com reported. The agency plans to purchase two THAAD fire units while development activities continue, with the first unit to be delivered in fiscal 2009 and the second in fiscal 2010. The agency is scheduled next month to conduct the interceptor’s fourth flight test, the first with the official goal of intercepting a target. The test will try to intercept a warhead that has separated from its booster. The previous test in July successfully intercepted a nonseparating target, according to InsideDefense.com. An additional test, not scheduled to be an intercept effort, is set to occur shortly after the fourth, Driessnack said (InsideDefense.com/Military.com, Aug 24
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