WASHINGTON — Since 2006, North Korea's military dictatorship has been developing nuclear weapons and the long-range missiles that can carry them to US soil.
To counter this threat, the US launched a controversial project to improve its ability to destroy these intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, before they can reach the US.
The Pentagon says it placed the latest version of an Aegis SM-3 missile on a US Navy destroyer and adapted the ship's systems to fire and control the missile.
Previous tests against ICBM targets had used interceptors launched from underground silos in the US.
On Tuesday, test personnel fired an unarmed ICBM from a US test range at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
The upgraded Navy destroyer was situated northeast of Hawaii and managed to track the missile before firing an SM-3 missile at the ICBM.
According to the Pentagon, the SM-3 scored a perfect hit, completely destroying the ICBM.
Analysts have expressed concern that such a ship-borne anti-ICBM program would prompt Russia and China to build more ICBMs.