Kill for Zeus

The U.S. Army last week claimed a significant accomplishment for Nike Zeus, its 48-ft. nuclear-tipped anti-missile missile. Fired from New Mexico's White Sands missile range, a Nike Zeus locked on a ranging Nike Hercules; in the first real test of its interceptor capacity, the Zeus homed in and detonated close enough to be within "lethal radius" if it had carried a nuclear warhead.

But Nike Zeus still has a long way to go, and the Defense Department is withholding $125 million appropriated for Nike Zeus production until the Army solves some major problems. For one, its radar so far cannot distinguish between a real warhead and a decoy. For another, while it is efficient on a single target, the Zeus cannot make a choice when a "package," or barrage of missiles appears. Finally, last week's Nike Hercules target missile was tracking at only 3,000 m.p.h. In a test scheduled for the Pacific next summer, the Nike Zeus will attempt to down an Atlas missile hurtling at 17,000 m.p.h.

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