The US military has said that it successfully tested an interceptor that can shoot down ballistic missiles as well as airplanes.
The destroyer USS John Paul Jones tested the technology during a series of flight tests off the Hawaiian island of Kauai over the past week, the Missile Defence Agency said in a statement.
The existing version can shoot down airplanes, helicopters and cruise missiles. The newer model tested off Hawaii may also destroy ballistic missiles in their last few seconds of flight.
According to reports, the updated missile is on course to be operational next year, offering the Navy the flexibility to meet a wide variety of missions. It would join the Navy’s arsenal of missile-destroying interceptors.
The Navy already has an interceptor, called SM-3, that ships can use to shoot down ballistic missiles midway through their flight, it could use the SM-6 to shoot down missiles that weren’t intercepted earlier.
During the first test event in the series, John Paul Jones sailors on July 28 fired a modified SM-6 to destroy a ballistic missile. On July 31 and August 1, the sailors tested the new interceptor against two different types of cruise missiles.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)