WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. military said it shot down an intermediate-range ballistic missile target over the Pacific yesterday in the “most challenging” test yet of its work on a planned antimissile shield for Europe against Iran.
The Pentagon said the successful test of Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Co hardware “demonstrated the capability” of the first phase of a layered, multibillion dollar antimissile shield, which is due to be in place in Europe by year-end.
The technology may also be adapted to defend against North Korea, another focus of U.S. antimissile efforts, and ultimately to bolster existing U.S. ground-based defenses.
The test west of Hawaii marked the first time Lockheed’s shipboard Aegis combat system had been used to intercept a target with a range greater than 1,900 miles (3,040 kms), said the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency, or MDA.
Dubbed Flight Test Standard Missile-15, it was also the first Aegis test to rely on missile tracking data gathered by a powerful on-shore radar station.
The ability to use remote radar data to counter an enemy ballistic missile “greatly increases the battle space and defended area” of the Standard Missile-3 interceptor built by Raytheon and used to destroy the target, MDA said.
Previous sea-based Aegis intercept tests have featured shorter-range targets.
This was the 21st successful intercept in 25 attempts for the Aegis program since flight testing began in 2002, the agency said.
The last two intercept tests of a U.S. ground-based antimissile bulwark, managed by Boeing Co and aimed at protecting U.S. soil from even longer-range missiles, have failed.
