United States successfully tests ICBM intercepts

TIL Desk/World/Washington/ The US has successfully shot down a mock intercontinental ballistic missile, its first-live fire test, using its own upgraded long-range interceptor warhead, in what was widely seen as a test of America’s ability to counter growing threat from North Korea.

The US military fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)-type weapon yesterday from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. It then fired a missile to intercept it from Vandenberg air force base in California.

This was the first live-fire test event against an ICBM- class target for Ground-based Midcourse Defence (GMD) and the US ballistic missile defence system, the Pentagon has said.

GMD is an integral element of the United States’ layered ballistic missile defence architecture, with interceptors at Vandenberg Air Force Base and Fort Greely, Alaska.

The programme comprises command-and-control facilities, communications terminals and a 20,000-mile fiber-optic communications network that interfaces with ballistic missile defence radars and other sensors.

“The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment for the GMD system and a critical milestone for this programme,” said Missile Defence Agency Director Vice Adm Jim Syring.