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Reuters

The US military carried out an unsuccessful test to shoot down an incoming dummy missile from Hawaii on Wednesday, a US official said, amid heightened concerns about North Korea’s developing missile and nuclear programme.
The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said a SM-3 Block IIA missile was launched from an Aegis Ashore test site in Hawaii, but failed to hit another missile launched from an aircraft.
It was unclear why the test failed and an analysis was underway, the official said.
China fires up advanced hypersonic missile challenge to US defences
The missile, which is being developed by Raytheon Co, is used to target intermediate range missiles and is being developed with Japan.


The Missile Defence Agency did not comment on the outcome of the test, but confirmed that one had taken place.
“The Missile Defence Agency and US Navy sailors manning the Aegis Ashore Missile Defence Test Complex (AAMDTC) conducted a live-fire missile flight test using a Standard-Missile (SM)-3 Block IIA missile launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, Wednesday morning,” Mark Wright, a spokesman for the agency, said.
China needs more nuclear warheads to deter US threat, military says
An intercept test for the missile last June also failed, but there was a successful test in early 2017.
The last year has seen ramped-up North Korean missile launches, some of them over Japanese territory, and its sixth and most powerful nuclear test. These actions have prompted a stepped-up US-led campaign to toughen U.N. sanctions, which Pyongyang has called an act of war.
Branding North Korea’s leadership “depraved,” President Donald Trump told Americans on Tuesday that Pyongyang’s pursuit of nuclear missiles could “very soon threaten our homeland” and vowed a continued campaign of maximum pressure to keep that from happening.
In his first state-of-the-nation speech to the US Congress, Trump’s tough rhetoric underscored persistent tensions despite recent talks between North and South Korea that led to Pyongyang’s agreement to participate in next month’s Winter Olympic Games hosted by Seoul.
Earlier this year, the US government approved the sale of the anti-ballistic missiles to Japan to help defend itself against a growing North Korean threat.
The State Department asked Congress to approve the US$133 million sale of the four missiles and related hardware, which can be launched from destroyers at sea or from a land-based system.
Japan formally decided in December that it would expand its ballistic missile defence system with US-made ground-based Aegis radar stations and interceptors.


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Is China changing tack and accepting North Korea as a nuclear-armed state?

North Korean air force to gain ‘strategic assets’ amid heightened tensions in peninsula

North Korea nuclear crisis

US missile defence system fails to shoot down test rocket from Hawaii

This photo shows a US Missile Defence Agency test in June last year. A similar test on Wednesday failed – leading to concern over whether the US can defend itself against North Korea. Photo: Reuters

US drops planned South Korean ambassador ‘because he disagreed with attack on North Korea’

epa06472400 South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) presides over a meeting to discuss ways to create more quality jobs for young people at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, 25 January 2018. South Korea remains gripped by high youth unemployment, with the jobless rate for those aged 15-29 reaching 9.2 percent in December, compared with the headline unemployment rate of 3.3 percent. EPA-EFE/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT

Concern over the North Korean nuclear programme (including its Hwasong-12 missiles, such as the one pictured in an August 2017 photo) led to National Security Council advisers floating a limited strike on North Korea as a warning. When the planned US ambassador to South Korea privately objected, the post was taken away from him, sources claim. File photo: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP

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The failure comes amid heightened concerns over the possibility of North Korea targeting the US with nuclear missiles


United States

US missile defence system fails to shoot down test rocket from Hawaii

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The failure comes amid heightened concerns over the possibility of North Korea targeting the US with nuclear missiles

The failure comes amid heightened concerns over the possibility of North Korea targeting the US with nuclear missiles