Also..
...it depends on what the test was about. If they were testing target acquisition *and* the missle could home in on the GPS, then the test was mybe bogus
Even then, maybe not. How many people here write software and test it only in production for the first time? Not many, I hope Sometimes you test with mocked up data simply to test other processes than data collection. Think about how many tests and regression tests you run on your software before fielding it...now think about that development process applied to a problem this difficult?
Think about it, hitting a target that far away moving that fast with a bullet also moving that fast is no easy feat in itself, even if you do no where it is. It's completely understandable to test your ability to hit the target knowing it's GPS coordinates before testing your ability to aquire the target independently.
For that matter, knowing GPS coordinates probably only gets you in the right part of town, are GPS coordinates accurate to within inches for targets moving several hundred miles an hour?
