Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. military's land-based Aegis missile defense system has intercepted an intermediate range ballistic missile in a test near Hawaii.
The Missile Defense Agency said Monday's test showed an interceptor missile the military is developing with Japan is ready to be manufactured.
Defense contractor Raytheon says the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA interceptor has larger rocket motors that will allow it to defend broader areas.
An Air Force C-17 launched the target missile. The Navy tracked it and launched an interceptor missile from Kauai.
The U.S. first developed the Aegis ballistic missile defense system for ships and then adapted it for land.
The U.S. has an Aegis Ashore site in Romania and is developing another in Poland.
Japanese navy ships have the Aegis system and Japan is installing Aegis Ashore.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
