AN investigation that might have threatened the deployment of America鈥檚 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鈥檚 military Lincoln Laboratory of the ability of ground-launched interceptor missiles to hit incoming missiles and ignore decoys. But MIT鈥檚 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鈥檚 work.
But last week, outgoing MIT president Charles Vest said the investigation had stalled because the Missile Defense Agency would not release test details even to MIT staff with security clearance. 鈥淭he extreme sensitivity of the information precludes giving MIT access,鈥� the MDA says.
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