The SM-3 type missile is designed to destroy ballistic missiles in space, and the SM-2 type missiles help ships defend the airspace in their surrounding area
On Thursday, the US Navy successfully tested a new update of the AEGIS missile defense system, simultaneously destroying two cruise missiles and a ballistic one off the coast of Hawaii, announced the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) of the Department of Defense, on their website.
The USS John Paul Jones destroyer, based in Pearl Harbor, intercepted the ballistic missile with an SM-3 type one, launched simultaneously with two SM-2 missiles, which intercepted low flying cruise missiles, according to MDA.
The test, which took place on Thursday at 1.00 GMT, validated the AEGIS missile defense system, built by the Lockheed Martin Group, and two different missiles built by Raytheon Co.
According to the Raytheon Co. manufacturer, a contractor of the US Defense, the SM-3 type missile is designed to destroy ballistic missiles in space, and the SM-2 type missiles help ships defend the airspace in their surrounding area.
The update is to be installed aboard US destroyers equipped with the AEGIS system and is part of the AEGIS Ashore system which will also become operational in Romania.
In October, NATO inaugurated the facility in Deveselu, whose mission is to defend South-Eastern Europe of ballistic missile attacks.