HONOLULU (AP) — The military shot down a shortrange ballistic missile off Hawaii with a new, more sensitive interceptor missile.
The Missile Defense Agency says the USS Lake Erie detected and tracked the short-range missile launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai on Wednesday night.
The Pearl Harbor-based guided missile cruiser then fired the interceptor, which took out the missile.
The agency says the new interceptor has a two-color infrared seeker, which allows it to detect targets further away.
The agency says the test was the 22nd time its Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system, which is operated from ships, has successfully intercepted a target. The Aegis program has attempted intercepts 27 times.
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