Cause of missile defense test failure unclear: US: "top US general said Thursday it was unclear why an interceptor meant to knock out incoming ballistic missiles failed in a test for the second time in a row.
General James Cartwright, the military's second highest ranking officer, said he had no doubts that the country's missile defense system could fend off potential threats, despite Wednesday's failed test.
'I'm not the least bit concerned that we don't have a capability to defeat, should we need to, that rogue threat that the system's been designed against,' Cartwright told reporters.
In the test on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, an interceptor rocket launched from a base in California failed to intercept its target, an intermediate-range ballistic missile, the Missile Defense Agency said."
