EFL.
A ground-based missile interceptor was installed Thursday in Alaska's Interior -- the first component of a national defense system designed to shoot down enemy missiles. Crews at Fort Greely lowered the 55-foot-long, three-stage interceptor into one of six silos built behind a double perimeter fence reinforced by heavy barbed wire. "We're coming to the end of an era where we have not been able to defend our country against long-range ballistic missile attacks," said Maj. Gen. John Holly, who heads the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program for the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency. Five additional interceptors will be installed at the 700-acre complex by the end of the year, along with another four at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Ten more will be installed at Fort Greely by late 2005, launching the Bush administration's multibillion-dollar system.
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