Japan conducts its first successful test of SM-3 missile

Japan’s Defense Ministry has reported the first successful test of an SM-3 missile from a self-defense force destroyer.

The Self-Defense Forces at Sea, as well as the Pentagon and the U.S. Navy, conducted the following test to confirm the ballistic missile defense functions of the destroyers Maya and Haguro. This is the first launch from a Maritime Self-Defense Force ship of the SM-3 Block2A ballistic missile, jointly developed by Japan and the United States. With this time success, our country’s ballistic missile interception capability has increased by an order of magnitude, said a statement from the Maritime Self-Defense Force Headquarters.

The launches were carried out Nov. 16 Tokyo time (Nov. 15 local time) from the destroyer Maya and Nov. 19 (Nov. 18 local time) from the destroyer Haguro, The location of the exercise was near the Hawaiian Islands.

Launch from Haguro: successful, target hit outside the atmosphere. This is the first time two self-defense ships have launched SM-3 missiles in the same period, the agency said.