WASHINGTON — Since 2006, North Korea's military dictatorship has been developing nuclear weapons and the long-range missiles that can carry them to US soil. <br /><br />To counter this threat, the US launched a controversial project to improve its ability to destroy these intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, before they can reach the US. <br /><br />The Pentagon says it placed the latest version of an Aegis SM-3 missile on a US Navy destroyer and adapted the ship's systems to fire and control the missile. <br /><br />Previous tests against ICBM targets had used interceptors launched from underground silos in the US. <br /><br />On Tuesday, test personnel fired an unarmed ICBM from a US test range at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. <br /><br />The upgraded Navy destroyer was situated northeast of Hawaii and managed to track the missile before firing an SM-3 missile at the ICBM. <br /><br />According to the Pentagon, the SM-3 scored a perfect hit, completely destroying the ICBM. <br /><br />Analysts have expressed concern that such a ship-borne anti-ICBM program would prompt Russia and China to build more ICBMs.
