A failed U.S. ballistic missile intercept test with Japan was the result of human error, Defense News reported.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency's review of the June test found a sailor mistakenly used the wrong input for the defense system, causing a launched missile to self-destruct before reaching its target, the outlet reported.
According to Defense News, the USS John Paul Jones destroyer tracked the target missile, then launched a Standard Missile-3 Block IIA missile using the Navy's Aegis combat system. The missile "did not intercept the target," according to the agency.
A tactical datalink controller, which is in charge of data exchanges between ships and aircraft, accidentally identified the incoming missile as friendly, Defense News reported, citing an unnamed source.
The SM-3 missile self-destructed in flight as a result of the reading.
"As unfortunate as this might be, it's a good thing that this wasn't a technology issue or some deeper failure that needs to be investigated at great length and time," Thomas Karako, a missile defense expert with the Center for Security and International Studies, told Defense News.
"There is no reason to believe the basic capability that has already been demonstrated has any new problems."
The SM-3 Block IIA is being jointly developed by the United States and Japan to defeat medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles as the threat from North Korea escalates.
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