Navy successfully tests ballistic missile interception system – Pacific

WASHINGTON – The US Army on Friday shot down a medium-range ballistic missile during a test of the onboard missile defense system that it is developing with Japan, the US Missile Defense Agency announced.

Navy seamen aboard the USS John Finn, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, intercepted the test missile off the west coast of Hawaii for assistance. A standard III Block IIA missile, part of the Aegis ballistic missile defense system, said the MDA statement.

"It was a remarkable achievement and a key step for the return of the SM-3 Block IIA," said Air Force General Sam Greaves, MDA's director, in a statement. . "My congratulations to the entire team, including our sailors, our industry partners and our allies, who helped take this step.

It was the second consecutive test of Japan's and the United States' Aegis missile defense system after a Japanese destroyer shot down a missile in September, also off the coast of Hawaii. Japanese officials have said they want the system to protect against the threat of ballistic missiles from North Korea.

North Koreans have demonstrated their ability to fire missiles that could reach the American continent, although they have not tested a ballistic missile since August 2017. North Korean missile tests in the area of Pacific had exacerbated tensions with the United States, although friction between the two countries has dissipated in the midst of diplomatic talks including negotiations on the North Korean nuclear program.

The successful SM-3 Block IIA test followed a test failure of this missile earlier this year. In February, the Pentagon acknowledged that Raytheon's missile test had missed its target in the January 31 test.

A review panel determined that a wrong device that looked like a spark plug at the highest phase of the SM-3 Block IIA missile was probably the cause of the failed test, Bloomberg News reported this month. citing MDA documents.

In the January test, the missile was launched using the terrestrial version of the Aegis system from the Pacific missile base in Hawaii, the Pentagon announced.

The ground version is expected to be deployed in Poland, where the Aegis system would use SM-3 Block IIA missiles as the centerpiece of the European missile defense system, according to Raytheon. The Navy equipped 36 ships with the embedded version of the system, according to the Pentagon.

Aegis systems, as well as ground interceptors in California and Alaska, form a large part of the US ballistic missile defense system.

The Pentagon has been studying its missile defense systems for more than a year. The Missile Defense Review was originally scheduled to be released late last year, but has postponed publication of the document. The Pentagon spokesman, Army Colonel Rob Manning, said Monday that the document was in its final stage of review and that it could be released in the coming weeks. said Pentagon officials for months.

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