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Navy intercepts 2 ballistic missiles in test

HONOLULU — The Navy on Tuesday night destroyed two ballistic missile targets simultaneously in space 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean in a test.

Engineers say it’s the first time the U.S. missile defense system has shot down two ballistic missiles at once outside the earth’s atmosphere.

The test demonstrates the system can shoot down targets in operationally realistic conditions, officials said.

“The adversary may not shoot one ballistic missile at us or an ally at a time,” said Navy Rear Adm. Alan B. Hicks, program director for the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. “So the ability to engage more than one simultaneously is very important to us and validates what we built the system to do.”

The cruiser Lake Erie fired two interceptors to shoot down two ballistic missiles launched within moments of one another from a testing range on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

The targets were short-range missiles and didn’t separate in flight, unlike longer range missiles which break into booster and payload.

The event, which cost $35 million, builds on an April test in which a Navy ship intercepted one cruise missile and one ballistic missile.

Tuesday’s test was more challenging because ballistic missiles travel at greater speeds and higher altitudes than cruise missiles, making them harder to shoot down.

The test marked the 10th and 11th successful intercepts by the Aegis ballistic missile defense system in 13 attempts, the Missile Defense Agency said in a statement.

Aegis was developed as an integrated radar and missile system for the Navy some 40 years ago but has since been modified to enable ships to track and shoot down ballistic missiles.

Aegis-equipped ships help form what the military calls a layered missile defense system to protect the U.S. and its allies. Other components include ground-based midcourse missile interceptors in Alaska and California and Patriot anti-missile batteries designed to shoot down targets in their final stages of flight.

By 2009, the Navy plans to install ballistic missile tracking and interception capabilities on 18 cruisers and destroyers. Sixteen of the vessels are assigned to the Pacific Fleet.

A Japanese navy Aegis-equipped ship, the Kongo, joined Tuesday’s test by tracking the missile targets.

The Kongo also simulated firing its own interceptors in preparation for another test off Hawaii next month in which it will attempt to intercept a missile itself. If successful, the event would mark the first time Japan has ever intercepted a ballistic missile.