The U.S. Defense Department said Monday that a missile defense test had ended unsuccessfully a day earlier after a long-distance missile failed to intercept its target missile because of radar problems.
According to the Missile Defense Agency of the U.S. Defense Department, the target missile was launched from a military test site at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands at 7:40 p.m on Sunday, while a second missile was launched six minutes later from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
The first missile was launched to mimic a possible missile attack from Iran and the second missile was intended to find the target missile and destroy it. Though earlier tests have been conducted successfully on missiles imitating a flight path from North Korea, Sunday's test was the first such attempt by the United States military to use its long-range defense against a simulated Iranian attack.
"Both the target missile and ground-based interceptor performed nominally after launch. However, the sea-based X-band radar did not perform as expected," Defense Department's Missile Defense Agency said Monday, adding that it will soon launch an inquiry to determine what went wrong during Sunday's testing.
The sea-based X-band radar that malfunctioned on Sunday was built by the Raytheon Co (RTN.N), and is a major component in the ground-based mid-course missile defense system, the main U.S. defense against long range missiles that could be armed with chemical, biological or nuclear warheads.
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