News & Views item - July  2004

 

 

Missile Defence: Coalition Government Decides to Back Star Wars II. (July 12, 2004)

    On March 8 TFW reported "Son of Star Wars Turkey too Costly:  Concludes Australian Department of Defence". Times have changed or so it would seem. And this despite an American Physical Society study which demonstrated last year the Infeasibility of the US Missile Defence Strategy while more recently (Mid March 2004) a US General Accounting Office report pointed out that the components of the mid-course ground-based system have not been tested in "its deployed configuration." Many problems, such as finding warheads in a field of decoys, multiple interceptor launches, nighttime intercepts, adverse weather, and finding missiles without homing beacons have not been tested at all.

 

Whether or not the Chief Scientist, Robin Batterham, was consulted by the government as to the efficacy of Son-o'-Star-Wars isn't revealed (such consultations, had they taken place, would have been confidential). And perhaps the Department of Defence's objections are no longer valid if, that is, the Bushies will be moving a shekel or two Australia's way to make it worth  our while to play along.