[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 31 (Monday, March 18, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2002-S2003]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        MISSILE DEFENSE TESTING AND THE BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT

  Mr. COCHRAN. Madam President, there have been two important events 
relating to missile defense programs that occurred last week, which I 
would like to bring to the attention of the Senate.
  First is the successful test last Friday night of our Nation's long-
range missile defense system. This was the fourth successful test 
against an intercontinental ballistic missile and it was much more 
complicated than earlier tests have been, in that the target warhead 
was accompanied by three decoys. Despite the presence of these 
countermeasures, the interceptor was able to destroy the ICBM warhead.
  The target warhead was launched on a missile from California, nearly 
5,000 miles from the interceptor. The target warhead itself was a cone 
about 4 feet high and 2 feet wide at its base. The decoys were about 
the same size. Sensors were able to track these objects along their 
flightpath and give their location to a battle management system. The 
battle management system computed an intercept point and launched the 
interceptor. The interceptor missile received information about the 
target's position and characteristics, and while it was still several 
hundred miles from the target warhead, the kill vehicle separated from 
its booster rocket, its infrared sensors then detected the target, and 
its guidance system fired small rocket motors to guide the vehicle into 
a collision with the warhead. The target was destroyed by the force of 
this collision. All of this took place in just a few minutes in outer 
space, at closing speeds in excess of 20,000 miles an hour.

  This impressive event cannot be considered routine, but it is 
becoming regular. The regularity with which our missile defense testing 
is succeeding is very encouraging. Although slowed down by uncertain 
funding and ABM Treaty restrictions in the past, the missile defense 
program is now showing the benefits of the support provided by Congress 
over the past few years and of the new seriousness with which President 
Bush has attacked this problem.
  There is still much technical work to be done, and problems are bound 
to occur, as they do in all weapons programs. But the continued testing 
success of our ground-based missile defense system--as well as in other 
missile defense systems such as the Patriot PAC-3 and the sea-based 
midcourse system--suggests that we are steadily making progress and 
moving toward the time when we will no longer be defenseless against 
ballistic missile attack.
  The other event I want to mention in this context was last week's 
testimony before our Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on International 
Security by Mr. Robert Walpole, National Intelligence Officer for 
Strategic and Nuclear Programs at the CIA. Mr. Walpole testified on an 
unclassified CIA report published last December entitled ``Foreign 
Missile Developments and the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United 
States Through 2015.'' Compared with

[[Page S2003]]

the 1999 version of this report, Mr. Walpole said the missile threat to 
the United States had increased in significant ways. He also said 
specifically, where it was previously judged that the United States 
would probably face an intercontinental ballistic missile threat from 
Iran by 2015, it is now said by our intelligence community to be most 
likely the same level of threat assigned to North Korea. And North 
Korea's Taepo Dong-2 missile, which previously was assessed at having a 
range of up to 6,000 kilometers, is now judged to have a range of 
10,000 kilometers if configured with two rocket stages, and 15,000 
kilometers if it is equipped with a third stage, as was its 
predecessor.

  A 15,000 kilometer range is sufficient, according to Mr. Walpole, to 
reach all of North America with a payload large enough to carry a 
nuclear weapon. The report notes that the proliferation of missile 
technology also has become worse. The witness said Iran was now 
assuming a more significant role as a supplier of this technology to 
other nations. Finally, Mr. Walpole noted that the United States needs 
to be vigilant against both terrorism and long-range missile threats, 
saying:

       We've got to cover both threats.

  As we fight a war against terrorism, we cannot lose sight of the fact 
that other threats are just as serious. The CIA's report on the missile 
threat is a timely reminder of that, and last Friday's successful 
missile defense test is an encouraging sign that we are making progress 
in preparing to answer that threat.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.

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