The Pentagon said it successfully intercepted a separating ballistic missile over the Pacific Ocean last night in a test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system.
The Defense Department launched the short-range missile from Hawaii northwest into the Pacific. The USS Lake Erie then tracked the missile and launched the SM-3 Block IB missile to take it down with a direct impact.
“Initial indications are that all components performed as designed,” the Pentagon said. “Program officials will assess and evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test.”
It was the third consecutive successful test of the missile interceptor system, and comes on the heels of a Pentagon report to Congress finding that North Korea is pulling closer to its “stated objective of being able to strike the U.S. homeland.”
“North Korea remains a security threat because of its willingness to undertake provocative and destabilizing behavior, including attacks on the Republic of Korea (ROK), its pursuit of nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles, and its willingness to proliferate weapons in contravention of its international agreements and United Nations Security Council Resolutions.”
No word yet from the Korean Central News Agency on whether Kim Jong-un thought he was being attacked with a short-range missile from Hawaii.
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