Yesterday’s Missile Defense Agency test of the Aegis system from a Navy destroyer was a success, according to a statement from Pacific Missile Range Facility officials. The launch was originally scheduled for Thursday, but vessels in the way of the
Yesterday’s Missile Defense Agency test of the Aegis system from a Navy destroyer was a success, according to a statement from Pacific Missile Range Facility officials.
The launch was originally scheduled for Thursday, but vessels in the way of the test led to its cancellation.
According to the statement, a target missile was launched from the base at Barking Sands at 4:40 p.m. yesterday. About four minutes later, the Aegis system aboard the USS Decatur launched an interceptor Standard Missile-3. The interceptor destroyed the target at more than 100 miles into the atmosphere and 250 miles northwest of Kaua‘i within two minutes, according to the statement.
“The intercept used ‘hit to kill’ technology, meaning that the target warhead was destroyed when the missile collided directly with the target, using no explosives,” according to the statement.
Also participating in the test, a Spanish frigate performed long-range surveillance and Navy cruiser USS Port Royal successfully tracked the target and the interceptor and shared that information with a land-based Army Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, also stationed at the facility.
