Japanese Navy conducts successful test of US-developed SM-3 interceptor missile

Tokyo: A Japanese naval ship successfully intercepted a ballistic missile in its first test launch of the US-developed SM-3 missile interceptor system in waters off Hawaii, reports said on Tuesday.

According to a Kyodo News agency report, Japanese warship, the destroyer Kongou launched the interceptor from waters off Kauai Island to successfully intercept the mock target, another missile, fired from onshore on Monday.

Japan's defence ministry only confirmed that the interceptor missile was launched and also said that this was the first test of the Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) by a country other than the United States.

SM-3 missile interceptors will be deployed on Japanese destroyers equipped with the state-of-the-art Aegis air-defence system.

Japan and the United States have been working jointly to erect a missile shield against possible attacks from North Korea, which fired a missile over Japan's main island and into the Pacific Ocean in 1998. North Korea also tested a nuclear bomb last year.

In this regard it may be pointed out that Japan deployed the first missile defence system of its own in the Tokyo area in March this year, one year ahead of schedule. The United States installed a missile shield last year, the first in Japan, on the southern island of Okinawa.