HONOLULU — The U.S. military on Kauai has conducted the first flight test of a new missile defense system designed to protect NATO forces in Europe from ballistic missile attack.
HONOLULU — The U.S. military on Kauai has conducted the first flight test of a new missile defense system designed to protect NATO forces in Europe from ballistic missile attack.
The Pentagon said Wednesday that the Missile Defense Agency and the Navy used the Aegis Weapon System to track a simulated target. They successfully fired a missile to intercept the target Tuesday evening.
They used a Standard Missile-3 Block IB missile made by defense contractor Raytheon Co. in the test.
Another test next year will have the missile intercept a target.
Raytheon says the European Phased Adaptive Approach plan for missile defense calls for the first Aegis Ashore to be operational in Romania in 2015. The second Aegis Ashore site is on track for Poland in 2018.