F-16's used in boost phase missle defense test

AFP:

A US F-16 fighter used an air-to-air missile to destroy a sounding rocket in its boost phase for the first time this week in a test of a new missile defense concept, US spokesmen said Tuesday.

The system -- named the Net-Centric Airborne Defense Element (NCDE) -- breaks new ground in that it would arm fighter aircraft or drones with missiles fast enough to intercept a ballistic missile as it lifts into space.

The aircraft would have to get to within a 100 miles of the launch site to catch the ascending missile in the first two to three minutes after launch.

But it could be very useful in a short range combat situation against short and medium range missiles, said Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the US Missile Defense Agency.

The Pentagon has two other better known boost phase intercept systems under development -- the Airborne Laser and the Kinetic Energy Interceptor -- but those are still years away from being ready, he said.

"So it does give us an initial boost phase capability even though it is a much shorter range missile, and you have to be in the area of the missile launch to be effective," Lehner said.

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Boost phase missile defense is superior to other methods because the missile does not have time to deploy its multiple warheads or use dummies to spoof the system. While the F-16 is a great air craft Navy planes are most likely to be in the area to use the new system. It will be an important addition to a layered missile defense system. Republicans need to make an issue of missile defense in 2008 because it is another issue that Democrats have been wrong on for 20 plus years and despite several successful test Democrats still want to leave us defenseless against enemy missile attacks.