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US Navy Shoot Down Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile in Test – Defence Agency

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States military has intercepted an intermediate-range ballistic missile during a test conducted in Hawaii, the Missile Defence Agency (MDA) said on Tuesday.
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"The MDA and US Navy sailors manning the Aegis Ashore Missile Defence Test Complex (AAMDTC) at the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii, successfully conducted Flight Test Integrated-03," the MDA said in a press release. "This was an operational live fire test demonstrating the Aegis Weapon System Engage On Remote capability to track and intercept an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) target with an Aegis Ashore-launched Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA interceptor,"

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According to the MDA, the US Air Force C-17 launched the IRBM target from the broad ocean area thousands of miles southwest of the test site.

"Today's successful flight test demonstrated the effectiveness of the European Phased Adaptive Approach Phase 3 architecture. It also was of great significance to the future of multi-domain missile defence operations and supports a critical initial production acquisition milestone for the SM-3 Block IIA missile program," said MDA Director Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves.

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He noted that the system is designed to defend the United States, its deployed forces, allies and friends from a real and growing ballistic missile threat.

The MDA will continue to evaluate system performance based on preliminary data, the agency noted.

The recent test marked the second consecutive successful intercept for the SM-3 Block IIA missile, following a previous test in October, US media reported.

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