Navy launches test missiles from Kaua’i

LIHU’E, Hawaii (AP) — The Navy launched five missiles Thursday from the

Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kaua’i as part of testing for its missile

defense system, the Theater Ballistic Missile Defense (TBMD).

The Navy

operation fired the missiles from the base at Barking Sands on the west coast

of Kaua’i, then tracked them until they landed in the ocean northwest of the

Garden Island.

Four missiles, two short range and two intermediate range,

were fired from the base, and one cruise missile was fired from a jet.

A

Japanese navy vessel fired an unarmed intercepting rocket at the jet-fired

missile, while a U.S. Navy cruiser fired a simulated missile.

The exercise,

called “Pacific Blitz,” was to test the military’s ability to locate and track

such missiles, and to coordinate the response between land, sea and ground

forces.

A Navy official said a preliminary review of the exercise showed it

was a success.

“Initial indicators, a quick look, was very positive,” said

Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

“This was

a very important exercise, with positive results, at a very important

facility,” said RADM Kathleen Paige, deputy director, Program Executive Officer

Theater Surface Combatants.

“This was a tremendous training and

engineering exercise, and we collected a lot of data. PMRF pulled off this

event of unprecedented complexity.”

The exercise followed two days of

target tracking and joint services interoperability testing.

Barking Sands

will be the location future tests of the missile defense program.

The

program’s next challenge will be to test a rocket that Navy ships can fire once

they identify incoming enemy ballistic missiles.

“This is the only place

we’ll be doing theater ballistic missile defense testing for the Navy,” Fargo

said. “This is a world-class facility, a tremendous national asset.”