Joint-Japan and US Missile Defense Flight Test

An SM-3 missile is launched from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer JS Kirishima, successfully intercepting a ballistic missile target launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. The test was conducted as a Japan and U.S. joint exercise, with the U.S. Navy Aegis guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie and the U.S. Navy Aegis guided-missile destroyer USS Russell detection and tracking cooperation.