18 August 2011
Ballistic Missile Danger Increasing: MDA Chief
Global Security Newswire

Speaking at the Space and Missile Defense Conference in Huntsville, Ala., O'Reilly referred to increasing acquisitions of missiles designed to target maritime vessels, the Huntsville Times reported. Such weapons could pose an especially dire threat if they are acquired by extremists, he said, adding that additional governments are becoming capable of creating and manufacturing their own missiles.

Former Israeli Missile Defense Organization head Uzi Rubin said hundreds to thousands of ballistic missiles exist in four nations beset by political instability: Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen (see related GSN story, today). Iran and other countries wield more of the weapons.

"Who knows what's going to happen?" Rubin asked.

Ballistic missiles might one day target the United States from a country such as Venezuela, he suggested.

"Maybe this is the next big thing in missile threats," Rubin said.

Meanwhile, a probe, design modifications and a significant number of ground tests have followed a pair of failed trial flights involving a warhead intended for Ground-based Midcourse Defense interceptors deployed in Alaska and California, O'Reilly said. Manufacturing of the systems was also suspended (see GSN, April 5).

"We are planning for a flight test in the second or third quarter of next year," O'Reilly said. "The purpose ... is to shake, rattle and roll this thing, put it in the worst environments it would ever see, and validate that we have corrected the issue."

A retry of the most recent failed trial of the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle is slated to take place in roughly one year, he said (Kenneth Kesner, Huntsville Times, Aug. 18).