Washington has conducted the first-ever test of a ballistic missile interception from Guam, which US military officials described as a “critical milestone” to “defend against evolving adversary threats” amid the growing missile competition with China in the Indo-Pacific region.
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The Missile Defence Agency (MDA), a subsidiary of the US defence department responsible for developing a comprehensive missile defence, said it had “successfully conducted” the first live intercept of a ballistic missile target on Monday.
During the experiment, dubbed Flight Experiment Mission-02 (FEM-02), the Aegis Guam system fired a Standard Missile-3 Block IIA to intercept an air-launched medium-range ballistic missile target off the coast of Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.
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The system uses the new AN/TPY-6 radar and vertical launching system. The target was tracked shortly after launch to intercept it in the first end-to-end tracking use of the radar during a live ballistic missile flight test.
The Missile Defence Agency said the test marked a “pivotal step” in the defence of Guam and provided “critical support to the overall concept, requirements validation, data-gathering and model maturation” for the future Guam defence system (GDS).
The Pentagon has been outlining the long-term initiative to defend Guam and to develop and operate its defence system to provide a persistent layered integrated air and missile defence capability.
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“Today’s flight test is a critical milestone in the defence of Guam and the region,” said Commander of the Joint Task Force-Micronesia Rear Admiral Greg Huffman.