The success rate of a test of the missile defense system which the U.S. is building against so-called rogue states including North Korea stands at 86 percent. U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, the director of the Missile Defense Agency, in an interview said 39 of the last 45 tries at stopping a test missile were successful."In the past few years, all hit their mark, except one that had a manufacturing problem. It was fixed, and three weeks ago successfully hit its target in a test," he claimed.
"The failures were mostly at the start of the testing" and the missile defense capabilities improved significantly recently, he added.
"The Defense Department recently committed an additional US$900 million toward fielding the Army's theater high-altitude-area defense mobile missile defense system," he said. "The agency has finished seven of eight required tests of the system," and O'Reilly expects to see it in the field next year.