Video shows successful missile-intercept test over Pacific

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency released video footage today of the successful intercept of an intercontinental ballistic missile target during a test over the Pacific Tuesday, the agency said.

It was the first live-fire test event against an ICBM-class target for the defensive system, which is intended to protect Hawaii and the mainland from North Korean missiles.

During the test, an ICBM-class target was launched from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Multiple sensors, including Hawaii’s Sea-Based X-Band Radar in the Pacific Ocean, provided target acquisition and tracking data, according to the agency.

A ground-based interceptor was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and its “exo-atmospheric kill vehicle” intercepted and destroyed the target in a direct collision, agency officials said.

The video includes footage from the missile launches in Kwajalein Atoll and Vandenberg, as well as the intercept explosion in space above the Pacific Ocean.