New Missile Killers

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31384, 1 June 1967, Page 13

New Missile Killers

(N.Z. Press Ann.— Copyright) WASHINGTON, May 31. Advanced military systems based in space are being seriously considered to replace land installations, a top-ranking Pentagon official has told the House Military Appropriations Sub-com-mittee, according to the “New York Times” News Service. In Congressional testimony just released, Dr. Charles Herzfeld—until last Friday director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency—said new missile killers were being studied. The revelation comes as the United States Administration wrestles with a deployment decision on the Nike-X anti-missile system to defend the nation.

! Other Pentagon sources said a space-based antimissile system would not violate the recent ban on mass destruction weapons above the earth as the system would be wholly defensive. They said the feasibility of intercepting enemy missiles while the warheads travelled

in an arc through space was being studied. The sources made clear that such systems might supplement Nike-X by thinning out attack missiles before they came within the range of Nike’s Spartan or Sprint missiles. “One of the reasons the

launch-phase and mid-course intercept concepts fell down in the past,” said one expert, “is that they were supposed to do the whole job. For that mission they did not look too promising. But in combination with Nike-X, they look a lot more appealing.” The space-based system could knock down a large number of missiles, he said, leaving the “leakage” for Nike«X. Dt. Herzfeld, who left his position to join a telephone and telegraph company, reminded the committee that until 1964 the Defence Department had worked on the so-called Bambi system designed to use satellites to locate and destroy enemy missiles shortly after they had been launched—while they were moving slowly and were easiest to intercept. This work was stopped three years ago, he said, because it was “much too costly.” But the time was approaching, be added when, the whole question should be re-examined.

Explosion In Plane—A bomb exploded in an Aerocondor Airline DC4 p lane flying at 12,000 ft yesterday in Colombia, but did not seriously hurt any of 20 passengers and crew members aboard.—Bogota, May 31.