Ballistic missile
intercepted in
test off Kauai

The Aegis cruiser's crew hits the
target in the fifth success of six tries

A Pearl Harbor Aegis cruiser successfully fired an interceptor missile off the coast of Kauai yesterday, destroying a short-range ballistic target missile in the fifth successful test firing in six attempts.

The standard missile 3 interceptor was fired from the cruiser USS Lake Erie, and the intercept occurred just after 11 a.m. about 100 miles off the north coast of Kauai, according to Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry "Trey" Obering, director of the Missile Defense Agency.

The target missile was launched from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands. About one minute later, the Lake Erie launched the standard missile 3, and the intercept was achieved about two minutes later.

U.S. NAVY VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS An SM-3 missile, above, was launched yesterday from the USS Lake Erie, below, in the Missile Defense Agency's latest test of its sea-based midcourse ballistic missile defense capability, more than 100 miles off Kauai. The SM-3 intercepted a target ballistic missile similar to a Scud, launched from Barking Sands, Kauai.

A Navy statement said the Aegis ballistic missile defense is an integral part of the Ballistic Missile Defense System now being developed, tested and fielded by the Missile Defense Agency as part of a "layered" missile defense designed to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles during any phase of their flight.

The Navy statement said this is the same technology used successfully in the development of the ground-based midcourse defense system designed to intercept and destroy long-range missiles, and also used by Patriot missiles in the U.S. Army.

The Pearl Harbor-based Aegis destroyer, USS Russell, also participated in yesterday's test.

The Navy said the Aegis weapon system is deployed on 68 U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers, with 18 more ships planned.

The Aegis system also is used on the Japanese Kongo-class destroyers and is part of two European ship construction programs, the Spanish F-100 and the Norwegian New Frigate. South Korea also is building three Aegis-equipped destroyers, and the Australian navy plans to use the same system.

"This is really the first sea-based interceptor missile system that will become operational in the history of the U.S. Navy and the United States," said Rick Lehner, a missile defense spokesman at the Pentagon, where the test was also monitored. "It will get better over time."

The SM-3 does not have the range of the experimental, land-based national missile defenses in Alaska and California, and it is envisioned for use in protecting allies or U.S. forces from short-range ballistic missiles -- which have a range from 621 miles to about 3,400 miles -- launched over a body of water.