BARKING SANDS, Kauai, Hawaii, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Riki Ellison, President of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, http://www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org, reports that late Friday evening Hawaiian Standard Time, a liquid-fueled single stage Scud missile streaked across the tropical black sky over the Pacific Ocean near the northern

islands of Hawaii after being launched from a sea-based floating barge. Moments later, after being detected and tracked by an X-band radar located on the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in Kauai, a ground-based mobile defensive missile was launched from a different location on the same range in Barking Sands. This defensive missile accelerated quickly and flew with a brilliant white slash against the night. At approximately 9:15 p.m. Friday Hawaiian Standard Time, on the border where space and the atmosphere meet, the Scud missile was destroyed by the defensive missile as it flew

with high velocity right into the center of the incoming missile. The mobile ground-based missile defense system that includes the defensive missile, its launcher and its X- band radar is called the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD.

This marks the fourth successful test of this current system and

follows the successes of the Ground-Based Interceptor last month, the Patriot 3 Success flight in July and the Aegis Standard Missile 3 intercept in June.

The U.S. Army and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency have developed this theater and tactical system to cover wide geographical areas from ballistic missile attacks, adding a needed and additional layer of missile defense between the Patriot terminal defense systems that intercept in the

atmosphere and the mid-course Sea Based Aegis Missile Defense that intercepts in space. The THAAD is able to intercept in both the upper atmosphere and lower space using the atmosphere as a discriminator of an incoming offensive missile. With this capability, THAAD is able to protect a significant wider area than the Patriot missile defense systems could and offers a fourth layer of missile defense to give the United States and its allies more protection, which increases the success rate of interception and makes it very difficult for an offensive missile to pierce through all layers of defense.

The THAAD system continues to appeal to international countries as the system is self-sufficient and is capable of protecting an entire country. Observing the THAAD test today were military representatives from Australia, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

This mobile missile defensive system, called THAAD, is strategically necessary in three regions of the world today: the Korean Peninsula, Southern Europe and the Middle East.

THAAD, as well as Aegis, will be required in addition to the European third site in Poland and the Czech Republic to fully protect Southern Europe, Turkey and portions of the Middle East from a ballistic missile threat from Iran.

Video and still photos of the test will be available for viewing on the MDAA web site at http://www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org shortly. Riki Ellison is available for on-the-record interviews about the flight and you may reach him at 571-213-3328. Call Mike Terrill at 602-885-1955 to arrange an interview.