HONOLULU (AP) — Officials say the U.S. military's sea-based missile defense system successfully intercepted an intermediate-range missile for the first time during a test more than 2,000 miles off Hawaii.
The Missile Defense Agency said the USS Hopper destroyer equipped with the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system radar tracked the target, which was launched from a Marshall Islands atoll about 2,300 miles south of Hawaii.
The test was the first time the Aegis system shot down an intermediate-range ballistic missile. It was also the first time the system used remote radar data.
Aegis is the sea-based midcourse component of the nation's ballistic missile defense system, designed to intercept and destroy short- to intermediate-range ballistic missile threats.
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