Missile Defense

Missile defense is a concept we can live with. Really, despite it being virtually useless from acts of terror, a more viable threat of real-long term destruction, would be from nation-state actors lobbing series of strategically aimed missiles from halfway accross the globe.

So it's good to know we're working on it.

From Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A test of key parts of an emerging U.S. anti-missile shield was scrubbed Thursday because of bad weather in Kodiak, Alaska, where a target missile was to have been launched, the Defense Department said.

The $85 million test -- designed chiefly to collect data, rather than shoot down the target -- may be rescheduled for Friday or Saturday, said Cheryl Irwin, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

"Bad weather and lightning at Kodiak" forced the postponement, she said in an e-mail.

The exercise would be the first involving a live target since ground-based interceptor rockets failed to leave their silos during tests in December 2004 and February 2005.

It also would be the first since the interceptors, part of a layered shield that also includes naval and aerial components, were activated to guard against ballistic missiles test-fired on July 4 and 5 by North Korea.