Missile-defense test a triumph

The US successfully launched an interceptor to knock down an intercontinental ballistic missile with a mock warhead over the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday in a key test of the Pentagon’s ability to respond to a possible North Korean attack.

The ICBM was launched from a base in the Marshall Islands and the interceptor was fired from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California 4,200 miles away (pictured).

Officials hailed the test, which cost $240 million, as “an incredible accomplishment.”

The intercept rocket released a 5-foot-long “kill vehicle” that collided with the mock warhead and destroyed it through the sheer force of the impact.

It marks the first test involving a simulated attack by an ICBM.

“The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment . . . a critical milestone for this program,” Vice Adm. Jim Syring, the director of the Missile Defense Agency, said.

“This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat. I am incredibly proud of the war fighters who executed this test and who operate this system every day.”

Rep. Adam Smith (DWash.), the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, congratulated the Pentagon on an “important milestone in the program.”

Riki Ellison, the founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, called it a “vital” test.

“We are replicating our ability to defend the United States of America from North Korea, today,” Ellison told Reuters.

While it appeared to be a specific test of whether the US military can counter a North Korean missile launch, the Pentagon said the exercise had been planned for years to determine American capability to knock down any threatening missiles, including any from Iran.