US $85m missile defence test launch fizzles again

ANOTHER $85 million (€65.5m) went up in smoke as President George W Bush’s planned ballistic missile shield went down the pan when an interceptor missile again failed to launch during a test of the US missile defence system.

The Pentagon’s Missile Defence Agency said it could not complete the repeat of a failed December test after the interceptor missile failed to launch from its Pacific Ocean base.

The interceptor missile also failed to launch during a December 15 test, which officials later blamed on a “very minor software glitch”.