U.S. building `star wars' test computer

NEW YORK (UPI) The Pentagon has started construction of a $1billion supercomputer facility to determine whether a "star wars"missile defense system will work, a published report said Sunday.

The National Test Facility, being built under heavy securitynear Colorado Springs, Colo., will simulate attacks by Soviet misslesand assess the ability of the proposed Strategic Defense Initiativeto defend the country, the New York Times reported.

Some 2,300 military and computer experts will be employed at thefacility, which will be the size of a football field, and analyze newdata as well as information already compiled by the Strategic DefenseInitiative Organization, the newspaper said.

Air Force Col. Richard Paul said the supercomputers will testthe capacity of weapons to destroy nuclear missiles by smashing them.