By Julian E. Barnes
WASHINGTON--The U.S. military said on Wednesday that it
conducted a successful test of a portion of the missile-defense
system intended to become the cornerstone of the U.S. missile
shield in Europe.
The test was conducted on a land-based Aegis weapon system in
Hawaii, similar to the equipment the U.S. plans to deploy next year
in Romania.
The U.S. currently uses Aegis radar aboard Navy ships to track
missile launches. As part of its effort to expand Europe's missile
defenses, the U.S. is planning to deploy a so-called "Aegis Ashore"
system in Romania.
"What we have done is tested a system similar to what we are
shipping to Romania," said Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon
spokesman.
Vice President Joe Biden visited Romania this week as part of a
U.S. campaign to reassure allies in East Europe in the face of
Russia's intervention in Ukraine.
The test of the missile-defense system, which occurred Tuesday
evening in Hawaii, didn't involve the attempted intercept of a real
ballistic missile. Instead, officials were testing the Aegis
system's ability to detect and launch the SM-3 interceptors.
Raytheon Co., which makes the SM-3 missile, said a more-advanced
intercept test is scheduled for the system next year.
Eastern European members of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization have been fiercely supportive of the missile-defense
system, seeing it as symbolic investment in their defenses by the
U.S.
But Russian officials have fiercely criticized the
ballistic-missile-defense system despite repeated denials by the
Pentagon that the U.S.'s missile defenses are aimed at Moscow or
would be even be capable of stopping advanced Russian missiles.
Russian officials have threatened in the past to increase
deployments of advanced weapons if the U.S. continues to deploy the
missile shield.
Riki Ellison, the chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy
Alliance, hailed the test and said the system holds the promise of
being used in the U.S., Japan and elsewhere to defend against
missile threats.
Write to Julian E. Barnes at julian.barnes@wsj.com
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