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ROCKET PLAN
US launches ICBM intercept rocket designed to knock Kim Jong-un’s intercontinental missile out of the sky before they hit America
The California launch is thought to be in response to North Korea's growing arsenal of weapons
THE US has successfully tested an interceptor rocket it hopes will be able to take down incoming rockets from North Korea.
A missile was launched from California in a move thought to be in response to Kim Jong-un's rocket development programme.
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US media tonight said the test had successfully destroyed its mock target outside the Earth's atmosphere.
The system has not been tested since 2014, and has only successfully hit its target nine times out of 17 attempts.
Today's test was launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base, 60 miles south of Santa Barbara.
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As part of the drill the missile knocked a mock warhead - launched from 4,200 miles away on the Marshall Islands's Kwajalein Atoll - out of the skies over the Pacific Ocean, .
The test is thought to have cost nearly £190million.
And it comes at a time when Kim Jong-un is desperately trying to develop a missile capable of hitting the US mainland.
Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said: "We improve and learn from each test, regardless of the outcome. That's the reason we conduct them.
"The system that we test today is a developmental system that's being flown for the first time and we look forward to understanding the results so we continue to mature the system and stay ahead of the threat."
Despot Kim was pictured watching his country's latest test over the weekend.
State media said: "Kim Jong-Un... watched the test of a new type of anti-aircraft guided weapon system organised by the Academy of National Defence Science.
"This weapon system, whose operation capability has been thoroughly verified, should be mass-produced to deploy all over the country.
"So as to completely spoil the enemy's wild dream to command the air, boasting of air supremacy and weapon almighty."
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On Tuesday, the head of the US Defence Intelligence Agency said that if left unchecked, North Korea is on an "inevitable" path to obtaining a nuclear-armed missile capable of striking the US.
Appearing at a Senate hearing, Defence Intelligence Agency Director Vincent Stewart declined to offer a time estimate but Western experts believe the North still needed several years to develop such a weapon.
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