"During the test, an ICBM-class target was launched from Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands", the MDA reported in a press release.
US military officials have called the successful destruction of a mock nuclear warhead over the Pacific in the latest intercept test a critical step for a missile defense program that started 35 years ago. The test ICBM was sacked from the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defence Test Site in the Marshall Islands.
The Pentagon released video Wednesday showing the dramatic moment - in grainy color footage - the us successfully destroyed an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) over the Pacific Ocean during a historic test of its ground-based interceptor system.
The target, created to simulate what might be launched by North Korea or Iran, looks to have been completely destroyed, according to Vice Admiral Jim Syring, head of the US Missile Defence Agency on Wednesday.
"In several ways, this test was a $244 million-dollar baby step, a baby step that took three years", Coyle said.
"I was confident before the test that we had the capability to defeat any threat that they would throw at us", Vice Admiral Jim Syring, director of the MDA, told reporters.
The US military describes the interception as akin to hitting a bullet with another bullet - though at far higher speeds.
"In a broad sense, North Korea is one of the reasons why we have this capability", Davis said.
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"We want to exercise the GMD (Ground-Based Midcourse Defense) system with more than one interceptor to gather data for what a first interceptor would do in terms of kill and what the second interceptor would see", he said.
The test comes amid heightened tensions in the Pacific region, as North Korea continues to conducts its own less impressive missile tests.
Below is a video of this remarkable system intercepting the test missile.
The successful test was hailed as a triumph, with Syring saying the result was "an incredible accomplishment" that marked a critical milestone for a missile defense program hampered by setbacks over the years.
The missile test came weeks after an unarmed Minuteman III ballistic missile was launched from Vandenberg on May 3 and days after North Korea claimed it successfully test-launched its most recent ballistic missile on May 29, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.
The latest test cost close to 250 million US dollars, and Pentagon has not ruled out more tests in the near future. The North Koreans have not yet tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Earlier this month, the senator introduced a bill calling for adding an additional 28 Ground-Based Interceptors in Alaska and California to better defend against North Korea in addition to the 30 GBIs already in place and 14 more set to be installed by the end of the year.
At this point, the system is still considered a tool of last resort, but it works and will improve with time and testing. The GMD is created to destroy intermediate and long-range ballistic missiles threatening the US homeland. The Pentagon classifies any missile with a range greater than 3,400 miles as an ICBM.
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