WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- The US military conducted a missile defense flight on Thursday, with an interceptor missile successfully intercepting and destroying a short-range target missile, the Pentagon announced.

    The target missile was launched from US Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands, Kauai, and the interceptor missile, a Standard Missile 3, was launched one minute later from the USS Lake Erie at its patrol area located more than 160 km from Kauai.

    Two minutes after the interceptor was launched, it hit the target, Henry "Trey" Obering, director of the Defense Department's Missile Defense Agency, said in a statement.

    This was the fifth successful interception in six tests of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system, an integral part of the US Ballistic Missile Defense System now being developed, tested and fielded by the Missile Defense Agency as part of a "layered" missile defense, the statement said.

    Extensive post-test data would be evaluated to determine system performance, validate operational capability and identify potential modifications to the system to improve performance, the statement said.

    The Aegis Weapon System, the basis for the sea-based element ofthe US Ballistic Missile Defense System, was currently deployed on68 US Navy cruisers and destroyers, with 18 more ships currently planned, according to the Missile Defense Agency.

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