WASHINGTON: The United States and Japan have conducted the first interception of a ballistic missile target using a jointly built system, amid heightened tensions over North Korea’s missile programme.
The two nations have been working together since 2006 to develop a variant of the Standard Missile-3, a ship-launched missile that operates as part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defence System.
Friday’s test off Kauai in Hawaii saw the Standard Missile-3 “Block IIA” successfully hit its target in space, the US Missile Defence Agency said.
According to the MDA, America has so far spent about US$2.2 billion on the system and Japan about US$1 billion.
