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US missile defence system test data withheld

8 December 2004

AN investigation that might have threatened the deployment of America’s National Missile Defence system has been halted by a Pentagon decision to block access to key data.

At issue is the controversial endorsement by MIT’s military Lincoln Laboratory of the ability of ground-launched interceptor missiles to hit incoming missiles and ignore decoys. But MIT’s national security expert Theodore Postol declared that test results on which this verdict was based are flawed. Under pressure from Postol, MIT management began an investigation into the lab’s work.

But last week, outgoing MIT president Charles Vest said the investigation had stalled because the Missile…

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