The troubled U.S. homeland missile defence program, heavily criticized for its unreliability, has finally carried out a successful test.
The system, deployed ten years ago by former president George W Bush, is supposed to counter the long-range missile threat posed by North Korea.
Shin Se-min has more.
The U.S. missile defense system on Sunday struck down a simulated enemy missile over the Pacific in the first successful intercept test of the program since 2008.
This will help validate the troubled Boeing-run Ground-based Midcourse Defense system which provides the sole U.S. defense against long-range ballistic missiles.
Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Admiral James Syring called it a very important step in Washington’s continuing efforts to improve and increase the reliability of the defense system.
The Pentagon also said all components involved in the test performed as planned,… and the officials will be assessing the performance of the system with the data collected from the test.
The system had failed to hit dummy missiles in previous tests since the Bush administration deployed the system in 2004 to counter the threat posed by North Korea.
It was reported on Friday that the Pentagon had restructured its contract with Boeing to put more emphasis on maintenance and reliability.
Shin Se-min, Arirang News.
