The largest ballistic missile defense flight test in history saw U.S. defense systems engage five targets simultaneously Wednesday, the Missile Defense Agency said.

The live-fire demonstration, conducted at U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll/Reagan Test Site, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, and surrounding areas in the western Pacific, emphasized the performance of the Aegis ballistic missile defense, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, and Patriot weapon systems.

"All targets were successfully launched and initial indications are that the (THAAD) system successfully intercepted its first medium-range ballistic target in history, and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 near simultaneously destroyed a short-range ballistic missile and a low flying cruise missile target over water," the Missile Defense Agency said.

The Missile Defense Agency; soldiers from the 94th and 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command; sailors aboard the destroyer USS Fitzgerald; and airmen from the 613th Air and Space Operations Center conducted the largest, most complex missile defense flight test ever attempted, resulting in the simultaneous engagement of five ballistic missile and cruise missile targets, the defense agency said.

An integrated ballistic missile defense system used multiple sensors to engage multiple targets at the same time.

A long-range target missile was airdropped north of Wake Island from an Air Force C-17 aircraft staged from Hickam, and a THAAD interceptor successfully hit the missile.

Another short-range missile was launched from a mobile launch platform northeast of Kwajalein Atoll. The Patriot system detected, tracked and successfully intercepted the target.

The USS Fitzgerald successfully engaged a low-flying cruise missile over water. It also launched an interceptor against a simulated short-range ballistic missile, but there was no indication of a successful intercept, the Missile Defense Agency said.

According to the agency, ballistic missile defense system programs have completed 56 successful hit-to-kill intercepts in 71 flight test attempts since 2001.