European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 22, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tho Ireney allows Iho lasting of technologies undiscovered in 1572, based on other physical principles " Ono senior military official said recently either it s now or it s not now. Rockets no nol new. Thoro is going to have to Tsa some very Laney Legal too work in Losis Aro Lobo allowed the National test bed a $100 million computer simulation project that Soi officiate have Long contended would provide the truth lest o whether a deployment would be affordable and effective and hence Load to a decision on whether to proceed will not to ready until late 1969 or 1990. Contractors have not broken ground for Tho Headquarters of Iho Tost bed pro Eccl. Grilles question How a decision could be made in Lithe lest bed is in operation. Sonra advocate of Early deployment admit that Tho Roaro Many unresolved engineering issues but they contend that without a near term goal it May be impossible to gel Congress to provide enough Money to answer thru questions As conceived by officials o the program and outside he Host phase of a missile defense  would probably consist of Throe different types of interceptor rockets each designed to Knock out enemy missiles at different stages at their flight toward the Continental United states. While Dill org in some key respects each of the three share some Basic features they would All be Small fas and nonnuclear meaning that hey would destroy oncoming missiles merely by colliding Vilh them at very High Speed. The first line of defense Lor the Early deployment system would consist of Small rockets mounted on hundreds of orbiting garage satellites that would a Templ to Knock out enemy missiles within minutes of launching when their Boos Ler rackets provide a Large Laming target. The second line of Welense would involve a set of ground based missiles launched from the untied states Hal would seek out Tho independently targeted warheads released from the missiles. That Job is far More difficult however because the warheads would be lost in a Cloud of decoys also released from Ifie enemy missiles the third layer of interceptor rockets also launched from the ground would attack surviving warheads As they re entered the atmosphere seconds irom explosion on Earth. By All accounts the space based rockets called kinetic kill vehicles would be Trie mos difficult element technically. Of the interceptor system. Several Hundred garages would be circling the Earth at any Given time but Only those above soviet missile holds or submarines about 10 percent of the Fleet by some estimates would be effective at the time of the attack. After an initial warning from sensor satellites the space based rockets would Home in on missile boosters As they my their silos. In a report published in december advocating an Early deployment a five member panel from the George c. Marshall Institute a conservative research organization said that such space based weapons were no a quantum leap beyond existing defense technologies but an evolutionary development out of relatively mature technologies of air  along with other proponent of Early deployment Ite Marshall group pointed of the Success of the Delta 180 Experiment last september in which a modified Delia rocket equipped with heat sensing devices and special cameras homed in on and destroyed another Delta. Ii pics agree that the test showed it was possible to find the target missile amid he hot exhaust gases that surround its plume. But they Point out that before any space based Roekens could be deployed they would have to be drastically reduced to about 250 pounds each and Hal the ski organization has Yel to even Issue a contract to address the engineering problems. The Trade Magazine a via Ion week and space technology has quoted an unnamed official of the program As saying that developing a 500-Pound interceptor Cocket twice As Large As the one required would be a Piec of  there is evidence however thai Pentagon officials May be curtailing their requirements or the space based rocket in order to incorporate in in an Early deployment system originally the interceptor rockets were expected to be Able o defend the space garages in which they  wars testing the abm treaty limits antimissile teeing treaty ramen say weapon tests Are permitted a special ranges. Such As those in new Mexico and Ona South in civic Isle and in laboratories sea or space based Isis Are said by the trainers to be banned along with lasts that use space components Siren a Earth lasers bounced Oft orbiting mirrors. Permitted sea based bounced off Mirror in space Laboratory Are housed against attack and Loaid in destroying warheads once they Are released from enemy missiles recent briefings to congressional staff members however suggest that the Long wave infrared sensor one of three used to pick out targets May be absent from an initial deployment because the technology would not be ready the Bottom line said one congressional staff expert is that the rockets May not have the capability to defend themselves against attack by missiles or space mines the expected countermeasures. Experts said similar technology problems might Al feel the second layer of defense rockets launched irom the ground that would seek and destroy warheads As they hurtle through space during the relatively Long midcourse of attack. The midcourse weaponry is called Tho exo atmospheric reentry vehicle interception system or Eris. Ii is an outgrow la of the 1984 homing overlay Experiment in which a rocket launched irom the kwai Alem test Range in the South Pacific destroyed a Dummy nuclear warhead lived from Vandenburg fab about 3.000 Miles away in Ca Lornia the Maneu Merable Slage of the rocket used in he Experiment containing the sensors and umbrella like kill device that Nils a warhead weighed More than new York Tumi 2,000 pounds 8ut an Eris kill vehicle inexpensive enough to deploy in Large numbers has to be in Iho area of 100 pounds said James Katechis Iho manager of the program at the army strategic defense come office in hunks vile Ala. The goal is not really one of size but one of Cost said Katechis. The idea is to make the Cost of killing a re entry vehicle about one or iwo million  nor would anyone say How Many Eris missiles would be required but Trie system would be responsible Jar protecting he entire country officials say not just the missile Sites of specific cities. Even some advocates of Early deployment question whether the Eris system would be Able to identify warheads. It is possible there will e very Lille disc Minalio ability in the Eris system said John Gardner who left a pcs As the director of the ski systems Ollice to take a Job at Mcdonnell Douglas in is. Louis. Even so we think it is possible to do the  he said Bui critics say Hal because Many missiles would be wasted on decoys the Cost of the system would. Quickly become prohibitive. The current Eris technology evaluation is nol scheduled Lor completion until 1990 or 1991. At about hat same Lime Mcdonnell Douglas is of Complete testing on the third layer the High Endo atmospheric defense interceptor or medi that would be the last line of Welense against an oncoming nuclear attack. Unlike the Eris project the Effort to develop a missile capable of intercepting warheads As they re enter the atmosphere is nol rooted in past expert nails we Are still at the ground test stage said Alan Sherer the Hedi program manager Lor the army so the technology is not yet  eliminating decoys is not a major problem Lor the Hedi system As the warheads re enter the atmosphere most of the lightweight decoys would probably be filtered out or burned up. But the missile laces another Challenge the heal generated As the interceptor rocket rushes through the atmosphere can interfere with its own Horning device an infrared sensor located in the nose of the Hedi rocket should the technology questions be solved there is considerable question Over whether the nation has the launching capacity to Pul the system Mlo place. Conservative estimates indicate Hal at least 6 million to 8 million pounds of gear including space garages sensors and the Battle management s la Lions Hal would Coo Dmale Iho Welense would have logo into Orbil. Some say the Ligure is Wico Hal. Selling b million pounds into orbit would require excluding maintenance Nihls about 125 space Shullie launching live times the number launched before Tho challenger disaster last year in any event most experts say they doubt the Marshall Insl Lule s conclusion that Eris deployment could begin in 1992, and that initial defense operations could begin by the Middle of the decade. Sunday february 22, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 17