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The failure of last weekend’s supposed “make-or-break” test of a US missile
interceptor may still leave the Clinton administration room for manoeuvre over
whether or not to push ahead with the proposed National Missile Defense system.
The Pentagon says the booster used for the test was not the one planned for the
NMD system: the real booster won’t be ready until next year. So any decisions
could be put off until next year, when approval for deployment and whether to
build NMD radars in Alaska is also needed. “The booster is going to be the
gating item” for that choice, says Under Secretary for Defense Jack Gansler.