The U.S. Defense Department on Wednesday released photos and video of its successful intercept the previous day of a ballistic missile target in the Pacific Ocean.
The minute-long video shows the launching of a Ground-based Midcourse Defense, or GMD, interceptor missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and the firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile-class target from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll.
The final seconds depict the coolest part: the actual intercept.
The footage shows multiple angles of the explosion resulting from the GMB's new CE-II Block 1 kill vehicle, which uses newly-designed divert thrusters to correct previous problems with the guidance of the kill vehicle, colliding with the mock ICBM.
Check out the video released by the Pentagon below and read more about the test at Military.com:
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Here are photos the Missile Defense Agency released of the interceptor launching from its silo at Vandenberg.
(U.S. Defense Department)
(U.S. Defense Department photo)
(U.S. Defense Department)
And here's a picture of the dummy ICBM on the launch pad at the Army's Reagan Test Site on the Kwajalein Atoll.
(U.S. Defense Department)
