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Failed missile defense test result of human error: report
By Ellen Mitchell - 07/26/17 06:03 PM EDT 75
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The failed U.S. ballistic missile intercept test with Japan last month was thwarted by human error, Defense News reported.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) review of the test found that a sailor mistakenly used the wrong input for the defense system, causing a launched missile to self-destruct before reaching its target.
The MDA and the Japan Ministry of Defense in June jointly launched a medium-range ballistic target missile off Hawaii’s coast.
The USS John Paul Jones destroyer tracked the target missile, then launched a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA missile using the Navy’s Aegis combat system. The missile “did not intercept the target,” according to the agency.
A source familiar with the test told Defense News that a tactical datalink controller, which is in charge of data exchanges between ships and aircraft, accidentally identified the incoming missile as friendly. The SM-3 missile self-destructed in flight as a result of the reading.
The head of MDA did not comment to Defense News on the sailor error, but said issues with the Raytheon-made SM-3 Block IIA missile or the Aegis combat system have been ruled out.
The SM-3 Block IIA is a new, developmental interceptor that is not yet fielded. It is being jointly developed by the U.S. and Japan to defeat medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, an ever growing possibility from North Korea.
By Ellen Mitchell - 07/26/17 06:03 PM EDT 75
7
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to Facebook7Share to TwitterShare to Google+
© Getty Images
The failed U.S. ballistic missile intercept test with Japan last month was thwarted by human error, Defense News reported.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) review of the test found that a sailor mistakenly used the wrong input for the defense system, causing a launched missile to self-destruct before reaching its target.
The MDA and the Japan Ministry of Defense in June jointly launched a medium-range ballistic target missile off Hawaii’s coast.
The USS John Paul Jones destroyer tracked the target missile, then launched a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA missile using the Navy’s Aegis combat system. The missile “did not intercept the target,” according to the agency.
A source familiar with the test told Defense News that a tactical datalink controller, which is in charge of data exchanges between ships and aircraft, accidentally identified the incoming missile as friendly. The SM-3 missile self-destructed in flight as a result of the reading.
The head of MDA did not comment to Defense News on the sailor error, but said issues with the Raytheon-made SM-3 Block IIA missile or the Aegis combat system have been ruled out.
The SM-3 Block IIA is a new, developmental interceptor that is not yet fielded. It is being jointly developed by the U.S. and Japan to defeat medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, an ever growing possibility from North Korea.
