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Riki Ellison, Founder and Chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA), has commented on the current status of the SM3- system and states that
the system is fully capable. Ellison is one of the top foremost lay
experts in the field of missile defense in the world. His comments
include the following:
"The
SM-3 Block 1A is certified by the Department of Defense to engage
short-range missiles of the SCUD A & B, the No-Dong type missile
and their separating targets (warheads); absent the presence of
countermeasures. These requirements for the SM-3 Block 1A missiles are
over 10 years old. Today and in the near future, Iran and North Korea
have yet to deploy or demonstrate countermeasures or mount a nuclear
warhead on a ballistic missile. The SM-3 Block 1A is a capable missile
with 17 intercepts; including a toxic falling satellite from space. Our
combat commanders, Admiral Robert Willard and General David Petraeus, have confidence in the SM-3 capability to engage and destroy current ballistic missile threats from North Korea and Iran as SM-3s are deployed today on Aegis Ships in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Japan protecting our armed forces and allies."
"President
Obama's missile defense plan calls for the phasing out of the SM-3
Block 1A missiles to start in 2015. This is also when the deployment of
the next generation of the SM-3 Block 1B missiles will take place. The
new generation SM-3 1B will have new requirements to meet the evolving
missile threat and will have a proven tested capability against
countermeasures."
"In
2018 the third generation of the SM-3 with its new requirements will
begin to be deployed. The fourth generation of SM-3 missiles will be
deployed in 2020 and will have greater requirements of any generation
of SM-3 and will be cable of destroying an ICBM."
"There
is no question that more testing which involves separating warheads at
greater speeds is required to continue to prove the confidence of the
system. MDAA encourages and supports a minimum of three SM-3 tests a
year to give the necessary confidence to meet the President's Phased
Adaptive Approach (PAA). It is disappointing that this year the Missile
Defense Agency and Department of Defense does not have a single U.S.
SM-3 test scheduled."
"It should also be noted that the United States
has ceased its testing of nuclear weapons; therefore testing any
missile defense system against a true nuclear weapon will never be
done."
"The
SM-3 missile performs as it is required and certified to do by the
Department of Defense to defeat with confidence today's ballistic
missile threats and the SM-3 will evolve through President Obama's PAA
into a better system to defeat tomorrow's missile threats."
Source: Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance
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