The United States plans to shoot down an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time in a test next week as North Korea is trying to develop one.
The Pentagon will conduct the test on Tuesday in order to more closely simulate a North Korean ICBM Washington believes is aimed at the US homeland, officials said Friday.
The US has a variety of missile systems at its disposal, but the one designed with a potential North Korean ICBM in mind is perhaps the most technologically challenging.
The system basically starts by firing a rocket into space upon warning of a hostile missile launch. The rocket then releases a 5-foot-long device called a “kill vehicle” which with the help of internal guidance systems steers into the path of the oncoming missile’s warhead, destroying it by force of impact.
According to the Pentagon, an interceptor is to be launched from an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Tuesday and move…