Pentagon Postpones Pacific Missile Test
POSTED: 2:41 pm HST June 21,
2006
UPDATED: 2:44 pm HST June 21,
2006
HONOLULU -- The U.S. military postponed a missile defense test off Hawaii's coast scheduled for Wednesday after a small craft ventured into a no-entry zone blocked off for the drill.The military has rescheduled the test for Thursday because the vessel was unable to get out of the restricted zone in time for the test to go ahead.The missile range on Kauai is scheduled to launch a medium-range missile. A Navy cruiser is supposed to track it and shoot it down.
The test for the U.S. sea-based missile defense program comes as international tensions brew over North Korea's apparent plans to test launch one of its long-range missiles. The Missile Defense Agency said that the test has been planned for months and was unrelated to indications North Korea has moved a Taepodong-2 missile to a launch pad.Experts say the North Korean missile has a range of up to 9,300 miles and is capable of reaching Hawaii, Alaska and parts of the U.S. mainland.The Japanese media said that the U.S. is considering shooting it down. If that happened, a military spokesman told KITV 4 that the Kauai facility would not be directly involved.
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Copyright 2006 by TheHawaiiChannel.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
