The US military has shot down a medium-range ballistic missile in a new test off the coast of Hawaii following a warning by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that his country will conduct more missile tests in the Pacific Ocean.
The test was performed on Wednesday by the US Navy and the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) from the USS John Paul Jones, a guided-missile destroyer, just one day after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan.
In a statement, MDA Director Lieutenant General Sam Greaves claimed the test marked a “key milestone,” and asserted the US “will continue developing ballistic missile defense technologies to stay ahead of the threat as it evolves,” hinting more tests to come.
“We are working closely with the fleet to develop this important new capability, and this was a key milestone in giving our Aegis BMD ships an enhanced capability to defeat ballistic missiles in their terminal phase,” the statement read.
The…