Missile test failure raises questions anew about system

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2004

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The failure of the first US missile defense flight test in two years has again raised questions about a system President George W. Bush has promised to put on alert by year's end, analysts said.

Experts began a review to determine why the interceptor missile shut down Wednesday instead of blasting off a launch pad in the Marshall Islands into the path of target missile fired from Alaska, officials said.

Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the US Missile Defense Agency, said an anomaly detected in a component of the missile system triggered the automatic shutdown but it was still unknown how serious a failure it was.

"It's only been 48 hours since the test, so it would be pure speculation," he told AFP.

"We're doing the review. We'll end...