GAO says key missile defense sensor failed

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon and contractors exaggerated the success of the nation’s first missile defense test in 1997, ignoring a flawed sensor that had trouble distinguishing a warhead from a decoy, congressional investigators said Monday.

The Pentagon called the findings outdated.

Contractors Boeing and TRW, who jointly built the system that was tested, played down the problems as did a Massachusetts Institute of Technology review team, said investigators from the General Accounting Office.

But Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., who released the findings by Congress’ investigative agency, said, "If we can’t tell the warhead apart from a decoy, what good is it?"

The latest disagreement surfaced as the costs of an anti-missile system, strongly favored by President Bush, continues to grow. Designing, testing and building a land- and sea-based missile defense system would cost between $23 billion and $64 billion by 2015, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated this year.

The GAO did not say the 1997 test was a failure but pointed out flaws, including failure of software to work properly and the loss of data needed to evaluate the results. Markey’s aides said the sensor used technology similar to that still in use.

The Pentagon disagreed. It contends it now relies on a different system to distinguish warheads from decoys.

Air Force Lt. Col. Rick Lehner said the GAO report "doesn’t matter, because that was a test of hardware that hasn’t been part of the missile defense program in more than four years."

The Boeing and TRW system was rejected and a competing system by Raytheon was chosen, Lehner said, one that relies on a different sensor, design and method of finding the warhead.

Copyright ©2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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