Pentagon shoots down mock intercontinental missile in sea-based test
LA TimesIn a first for the Pentagon’s push to develop defenses against intercontinental-range ballistic missiles capable of striking the United States, a missile interceptor launched from a U.S. Navy ship at sea hit and destroyed a mock ICBM in flight Tuesday, officials said. Although the current U.S. approach to missile defense is designed to protect the U.S. homeland against an ICBM fired from North Korea, both Russia and China have expressed concern that the U.S. could use its missile defenses to undercut the deterrent value of their nuclear forces, which are larger than those of North Korea. Navy Vice Adm. Jon Hill, director of the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency, which conducted Tuesday’s test, called the result “an incredible accomplishment and critical milestone” for the program. He said the ship-based approach, if augmented with better systems for detecting and tracking hostile missiles in flight, could provide “a hedge against unexpected developments in the missile threat.” In Tuesday’s test, the latest version of an Aegis SM-3 missile was fired from a U.S. Navy destroyer situated in the Pacific, northeast of Hawaii.