U.S. military conducts ballistic missile intercept test from Guam for first time

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said on Tuesday that it has successfully intercepted a ballistic missile target during a test off Guam for the first time.

"During the flight experiment, the Aegis Guam System integrated with the new AN/TPY-6 radar and Vertical Launching System, fired a Standard Missile-3 Block IIA which intercepted an air-launched Medium Range Ballistic Missile target off the coast of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam," said the agency, a component of the U.S. Department of Defense, in a news release.

"The AN/TPY-6 radar tracked the target shortly after launch to intercept in the first end-to-end tracking use of the radar during a live ballistic missile flight test," MDA said.

The agency added that "today's event marks a pivotal step taken in defense of Guam initiatives and partnerships and provides critical support to the overall concept, requirements validation, data-gathering and model maturation for the future Guam Defense System (GDS)."

Guam is "a strategic location for sustaining and maintaining United States military presence" and the test is "the first demonstration from Guam as part of the long-term initiative for the defense of Guam," according to the agency.