Missile Defense Test Conducted

          The Missile Defense Agency, U.S. Air Force 30th Space Wing, Joint
Functional Component Command, Integrated Missile Defense (JFCC IMD) and U.S.
Northern Command conducted  an integrated exercise and flight test today of
the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) element of the nation’s Ballistic
Missile Defense System. Although a primary objective was the intercept of a
long-range ballistic missile target launched from the U.S. Army’s Reagan
Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands, an intercept
was not achieved.  The interceptor missile was launched from Vandenberg AFB
, Calif.

           Program officials will conduct an extensive review to determine
the cause or causes of any anomalies which may have prevented a successful
intercept.