US test successfully intercepts Ballistic missile

NEW YORK - 30 August 2017: The United States conducted a missile-defense test off the coast of Hawaii and intercepted a medium-range ballistic missile, just days after North Korea’s bold missile test over Japan.

The missile test was conducted by the United States Missile Defense Agency and Navy sailors on the John Paul Jones, a guided-missile destroyer, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

“We are working closely with the fleet to develop this important new capability, and this was a key milestone,” in advancing the capability to intercept missiles, said Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves, the director of the Missile Defense Agency, which is part of the Defense Department. “We will continue developing ballistic missile-defense technologies to stay ahead of the threat as it evolves.”

Tensions between the US and North Korea have been rising in recent months over Pyongyang’s development of its nuclear program.

The US regularly tests its missile-defense systems, and this was the second time one of its Standard Missile-6 missiles successfully intercepted a medium-range ballistic missile, the agency said. The test had long been planned.