North Korean missile launch.The Missile Defense Agency launched a ground-based interceptor from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, to intercept a US-launched mock ICBM target over the Pacific Ocean, according to a US defense official.
The interceptor "destroyed the target in a direct collision," according to a statement from the Missile Defense Agency.
"The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment ... and a critical milestone for this program," said MDA Director Vice Adm. Jim Syring.
"This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat," he said.
While the Pentagon is calling this test a success, some experts cautioned that the $40 billion missile defense system still has a long way to go before it can be considered fully developed.
"It marks two successes in a row, which is significant, but only two hits out of the last five attempts; that is, only a 40% success rate since early 2010," said Philip E. Coyle, a senior fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
"In school, 40% isn't a passing grade," added Coyle, who formerly headed the Pentagon's office of operational test and evaluation. "Based on its testing record, we cannot rely upon this missile defense program to protect the United States from a North Korean long-range missile."
Washington Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, congratulated the Missile Defense Agency for a successful test but sounded a note of caution that "much work remains to be done to ensure we have a reliable and effective system."
"After an investment of more than $40 billion since 2002, it's good that the Missile Defense Agency is finally doing a missile defense test against an ICBM target, some 13 years after the first Ground-Based Interceptor system's deployment," Smith told CNN.