US shoots down 3 missile targets in Hawaii test

Honolulu: The US military has shot down three missiles nearly simultaneously during a test off Hawaii.

The Missile Defence Agency said on Thursday that a short-range ballistic missile target and two cruise missile targets were fired from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai.

The agency says the Pearl Harbor-based destroyer USS John Paul Jones intercepted the ballistic missile by firing an SM-3 guided missile. The destroyer fired two SM-2 missiles to shoot down the low-flying cruise missiles.

Defence contractor Raytheon Co says the SM-3 is designed to destroy ballistic missile threats by colliding with them in space. The SM-2 missiles help naval ships defend the airspace around them.

The test marks the 29th successful intercept in 35 attempts for the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defence program since flight testing began in 2002.