US successfully destroys mock warhead in anti-missile test

The US has successfully tested an anti-missile defence system as fears grow internationally that North Korea is close to building an intercontinental nuclear missile.

The Pentagon successfully shot down a simulated intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday using its own interceptor missile.

The mock warhead was launched from the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defence Test Site on the island of Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific. It was destroyed by another missile fired from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

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The concept of an anti-missile missile has been described as analogous to trying to hit a bullet with another bullet at high speed.

The US system has been in development for over 15 years but Tuesday was the first attempt to target an intercontinental ballistic missile.

A statement from the Missile Defence Agency said the interceptor "destroyed the target in a direct collision".

The interceptor missile carried an upgraded "kill vehicle", says CNN, which carries no explosives – neither in test nor operation – but obliterates the missile it targets solely by colliding with it.

The test was not entirely realistic because it's thought that in a real attack, the US would fire several interceptors at once. However, the US might also be facing several missiles at the same time.

The system is not the same as the one based on the South Korean mainland that the US announced was operational earlier this month. That system – THAAD – is designed to take down smaller missiles with a much shorter range that would not threaten the US mainland.

The timing of the test has prompted the assumption that the system is designed to tackle the North Korean threat but the Pentagon insists it's being developed to tackle any threatening intercontinental ballistic missile, including the possibility of a strike by Iran.

US President Donald Trump tweeted on Monday that North Korea had shown "great disrespect" for China with its latest missile test of a short-range ballistic missile that splashed down in the Sea of Japan after a flight of 248 miles.

US national intelligence director Dan Coats warned Congress last week that "North Korea is an increasingly grave national security threat to the United States because of its growing missile and nuclear capabilities combined with the aggressive approach of its leader Kim Jong Un.

"Kim is attempting to prove that he has the capability to strike the US mainland with a nuclear weapon."