The Patriot Post® · Duds

From a silo on the Vandenburg Air Force Base, an interceptor rocket shot itself over the Pacific Ocean to blow up a ballistic missile Sunday – a successful test of America’s missile defense system, according to the Pentagon. In its story earlier this month that called the defense system “unreliable,” the Los Angeles Times reports, “The Missile Defense Agency has conducted 16 tests of the system’s ability to intercept a mock enemy warhead. It has failed in eight of them, government records show. Despite years of tinkering and vows to fix technical shortcomings, the system’s performance has gotten worse, not better, since testing began in 1999. Of the eight tests held since GMD became operational in 2004, five have been failures. The last successful intercept was on Dec. 5, 2008.” This comes as Congress considers slashing spending on the missile defense around DC. You’d think self-preservation against a rouge missile lobbed from Iran or North Korea would be motivation enough to truly fix this problem. More…