The Japan Times:
WASHINGTON – The United States will conduct its next test of an antiballistic missile it has jointly developed with Japan by the end of the year, following a test failure in January, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.
The Standard Missile-3 Block IIA is “an extremely capable interceptor,” said Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, director of the Missile Defense Agency under the Defense Department, at a Senate hearing.
The agency believes a “specific component” did not function as designed in the January test, but the missile has flown successfully “nine out of 10 times,” Greaves said.
“As of now, I am not concerned that it is a true design issue,” he told the defense subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “And we’re following through to identify the problem and then correct it.”
