US successfully conducted its most challenging test of a ballistic missile

On April 15, 2011 the US military successfully conducted its most challenging test of a ballistic missile defense system. It will deploy in Europe to counter an Iran missile threat. It was the ballistic missile target launched from an atoll in the Marshall Islands approximately 3,700 kilometers southwest of Hawaii. The ground- and sea-based defense system is meant to shield the United States and its European allies from a potential ballistic missile attack, possibly from North Korea or Iran.

The two demonstrations, Space Tracking and Surveillance Satellites which were launched by Missile Defense Agency (MDA) in 2009 have successfully acquired the target missile, providing stereo 'birth to death' tracking of the target. The test demonstrated the capability of the first phase of the European Phased Adaptive Approach announced by the president in September, 2009. Out of 15 tests of ground-based interceptors since 1999, seven had failed.