The Pentagon will conduct two major high-stakes tests in May of its ability to shoot down missiles launched out of North Korea.
The long-scheduled tests in the Pacific are part of the US military’s overall ballistic missile defense program to defend against North Korean or Iranian threats — but are, for now at least, aimed at ensuring the US can defend against a threat from North Korea, US defense officials said.
One of the actions will involve test-firing an improved Standard Missile off a Navy ship, a defense official said. The tests are taking place over the Pacific because that’s where the test ranges are large enough to accommodate them.
The upgraded missile has only been tested once before. The new version has an improved booster and warhead. That means the missile could fire at longer ranges, presumably farther from the North Korean coastline, and have a greater chance of hitting the threatening incoming missile.
The program has been in development with Japan and is aimed at shooting down intermediate-range North Korean missiles that pose a threat to the US ally.
A separate critical test in the Pacific region, to be held at the end of May, will examine the ability of the US to shoot down a future North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile that could threaten the US.
That test involves long-range ground-based interceptor missiles based in Alaska and California. That program has also been in existence for over a decade, but only about half the tests have been successful, according to the Defense Department.
In the most recent Pentagon report on weapons testing across the department, the long-range system was criticized. The report said it «demonstrates a limited capability to defend the US homeland from small numbers of simple intermediate-range or intercontinental ballistic missile threats launched from North Korea or Iran.
