Pentagon successfully shoots down ICBM target in missile test
- 7 years ago
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CALIFORNIA — The Pentagon successfully shot down an intercontinental ballistic missile target using its upgraded long-range interceptor missile in a missile test on Tuesday.
The ground-based defense interceptor was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California while the ICBM-class target was launched 4,200 miles away from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
A ground-based defense system flies into the path of an incoming missile target before releasing an Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle. The kill vehicle destroys the target by sheer force of impact outside the earth’s atmosphere. CNN reported that the missile test is the first test of the interceptor using an upgraded Kill Vehicle.
“This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat. I am incredibly proud of the warfighters who executed this test and who operate this system every day,” ABC News quoted Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Adm. Jim Syring as saying.
Tensions between North Korea and the U.S. are running high lately. North Korea has launched a series of missile tests recently, including a short-range ballistic missile that landed in the Sea of Japan on May 28.
The ground-based defense interceptor was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California while the ICBM-class target was launched 4,200 miles away from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
A ground-based defense system flies into the path of an incoming missile target before releasing an Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle. The kill vehicle destroys the target by sheer force of impact outside the earth’s atmosphere. CNN reported that the missile test is the first test of the interceptor using an upgraded Kill Vehicle.
“This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat. I am incredibly proud of the warfighters who executed this test and who operate this system every day,” ABC News quoted Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Adm. Jim Syring as saying.
Tensions between North Korea and the U.S. are running high lately. North Korea has launched a series of missile tests recently, including a short-range ballistic missile that landed in the Sea of Japan on May 28.