Interceptor Missile Passes Key Test:

Destroys Mock Warhead In 'Most Operationally Realistic' U.S. Test Yet

Just in case you missed this bit of good news buried by the America Last media...

From CBS News:

An interceptor missile destroyed a mock warhead over the Pacific Ocean on Friday in a key test of the nation's missile defense system, U.S. military officials said.

It was the most realistic test of the systems that would be used against an attack, said Missile Defense Agency spokesman Rick Lehner.

The 54-foot interceptor shot out of an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central California coast at 10:39 a.m., 17 minutes after the mock warhead was launched from Kodiak Island, Alaska, Lehner said.

The interceptor carried a refrigerator-sized “kill vehicle” that locked on to the approaching mock enemy missile and flew into the 4-foot-long warhead at 18,000 mph.

Lehner said both disintegrated more than 100 miles above the Earth and a few hundred miles west of Vandenberg. The interceptor's flight lasted 13 minutes.

The $85 million test was designed to see whether the “kill vehicle” could get close to the warhead to test the tracking and sensor systems which would be used in an actual missile attack.

“It gave us a good chance to measure overall system performance. It was the most operationally realistic test we've had,” Lehner said.