The greatest strategic threat to the United States is an attack by one or more ballistic missiles armed with nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction. Today, the United States remains completely vulnerable to this form of attack.
Missilethreat.com is dedicated to explaining this threat, and the urgent need for robust and layered missile defenses. Systems based on land, sea, air, and in space which are capable of intercepting a missile during any phase of its flight are necessary to provide for the common defense.
At approximately 6:12 p.m., the missile range facility in Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii launched a short-range ballistic missile target. Moments later, the facility launched a second, identical missile. The U.S.S. Lake Erie's Aegis BMD Weapon System detected and tracked the targets, and then fired two SM-3 Block IA missiles, which intercepted the missiles. A Japanese destroyer also participated in the test. The J.S. Kongo conducted long-range surveillance and tracking, which should prepare it for what will be the first ballistic missile intercept test by a Japanese ship scheduled for later this year. 