Here is part of the US answer to the possible launch of a North Korean missile:

The US military successfully shot down a short-range ballistic missile near Hawaii in a test of its ground-based missile defense system, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

The target missile was “more likely to be classified as a short-range ballistic missile” because it had a range of less than 621 miles (1,000 kilometers), Ricker Lehner, spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency told AFP.

The Pentagon’s announcement came amid growing concern over North Korea’s scheduled April 4-8 rocket launch that the United States suspects is designed as a test of a long-range ballistic missile that could theoretically reach Alaska.

It was the first time the US military fired two interceptors at a target missile in a test of defense weaponry designed to knock out missiles in their last stage of flight, Lehner said.

In a genuine attack, it would be more likely to fire more than one interceptor in case one failed, he said.

The first interceptor struck the target and the second was then destroyed by missile range safety officers, Lehner said.

The test was carried out on Tuesday at a missile range off the island of Kauai in Hawaii at 2:30 local time (0230 GMT), according a statement from the Missile Defense Agency.

In the test, the warhead on the target missile was separated from the rocket motor, requiring the interceptors to distinguish between the two.

The dummy warhead was shot down in its last minutes of flight, Lehner said.

The soldiers who operated the system did not know when the target missile would be launched and more than 20 radars and sensors were employed on the test range to collect flight test data from the interceptor and the target, Lehner said.

The exercise was a test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), which is designed to intercept short to medium range ballistic missiles.  [Associated Press]

The BBC has some pretty good video of the intercept as well that is worth checking out.

The Obama administration has consistently criticized missile defense and even offered a quid pro quo with Russia to cancel deploying the US missile defense system in Eastern Europe.  Much of the criticism comes from people saying missile defense doesn’t work.  Congress has already cut funding to the Missile Defense Agency that manages the US missile defense program.

What people don’t realize is that missile defense involves a variety of systems in different levels of development.  THAAD is a system in a much more advanced stage of development then a system such as the multiple kill vehicle. These various system are being developed to defeat the various tactical ballistic missile threats out there.  You are going to have failed tests in the early stages of development just like the THAAD system back in the 1990′s failed 7 of its initial 11 tests.  Now the THAAD has proven to be an extremely successful system.  Likewise the AEGIS SM-3 system had its growing pains and now it is an extremely successful system as well.

Keep in mind though that the THAAD and AEGIS systems are medium to long range missile defense systems that can defeat a North Korean missile, but it cannot shoot down a ICBM, which is something these other systems being developed can do and have had recent successful flight tests showing further evidence it can.

The argument that missile defense doesn’t work is a flawed argument.  As THAAD and the SM-3 show missile defense does work, you just need to spend the money and do the testing required to develop these systems.  What the new President needs to determine is if the costs of continuing to build a missile defense network that can protect the US from all missile threats is affordable instead of possible. Congress reduced the missile defense budget for the next fiscal year, but still budgeted 9.02 billion dollars for missile defense development.  AIG in just the past four months has received $170 billion in taxpayer money with $30 billion more on the way.

If we can fund an incompetent business like AIG why can’t we fund missile defense?  Considering all the money going out in bailout mania missile defense is beginning to look cheap in comparison.