The distinctive missile telemetry ship MV Pacific Collector is in port at Aloha Tower, possibly for a key upcoming ballistic missile defense test. The 393-foot ship with twin domes housing 24-foot antennas is owned by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration and used in support of U.S. Missile Defense Agency missions. Spokesman Chris
Johnson said the agency doesn’t usually talk about assets used in a missile defense test until after the fact, but did confirm the next flight intercept test of the ground-based mid-course ballistic missile defense system is planned for late May. That test will be the first time a ground-based missile interceptor launched from California attempts to smash into a “threat-representative” intercontinental ballistic missile in its mid-course over the Pacific, the Missile Defense Agency said. READ MORE
