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Pearl Harbor’s USS Lake Erie passes missile-intercept test
For the 10th time in three years, the Pearl Harbor-based cruiser USS Lake Erie has shot down a short-range ballistic missile target that was launched from Kauai’s Pacific Missile Range Facility.
The latest test-missile intercept was at 5:25 p.m. Wednesday, the Missile Defense Agency reported. The target missile left Kauai heading northwest.
The crew of the Lake Erie detected and tracked the missile with its onboard AN/SPY-1 radar.
The Navy cruiser is equipped with a second-generation Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense weapon system and launched the SM-3 Block IB missile, which destroyed the target 80 miles above the ocean.
The Lake Erie has shot down cruise missile and ballistic missile targets 10 times in three years using the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system. The cruiser recently received faster, more powerful equipment and updates to its weapon system computer programs. The most recent successful intercept by the Lake Erie had been Feb. 12.