The Missile Defense Agency called its planned long-range missile defense system test from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., a “no test” because the target vehicle “failed to reach the defended area,” states an MDA release. MDA chief, Air Force Lt. Gen. Trey Obering, said that the target “did not reach sufficient height to be deemed a threat, so the ballistic missile defense system did not engage it, as designed.” He added that such a situation is always “a risk” since the program is “flying old intercontinental ballistic missile motors in our targets.” Obering also said that MDA has planned a target modernization program “within our existing budget. The agency expects to repeat this test later this summer.
The crash of a T-38 trainer jet this May—which caused a weekslong pause in flights across the fleet—was caused by an improperly installed pin for one of the jet’s horizontal stabilizers, according to a new accident report released Oct. 30. When the pin disengaged midflight, it created the slightest amount…