US defence chiefs fail to shoot down dummy missile from Hawaii sparking fears Kim Jong-un could launch successful nuclear attack
An intercept test for the missile last June also failed as concerns grow of an imminent nuke strike that could kill thousands
FEARS of nuclear apocalypse have grown after the US military carried out an unsuccessful test to shoot down an incoming dummy missile from Hawaii.
The worrying fail comes amid heightened concerns about North Korea's developing missile and nuclear weapons which could strike American Pacific islands as well as the United States mainland.
An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a SM-3 Block IIA missile was launched from an Aegis Ashore test site in Hawaii, but failed to hit another missile launched from an aircraft.
It was unclear why the test failed and an analysis was underway, the official said.
The missile, which is being developed by Raytheon Co, is used to target intermediate range missiles and is being developed with Japan.
The Missile Defence Agency did not comment on the outcome of the test, but confirmed that one had taken place.
Mark Wright, a spokesman for the agency, said: "The Missile Defence Agency and US Navy sailors manning the Aegis Ashore Missile Defence Test Complex (AAMDTC) conducted a live-fire missile flight test using a Standard-Missile (SM)-3 Block IIA missile launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, Wednesday morning."
An intercept test for the missile last June also failed, but there was a successful test in early 2017.
The last year has seen ramped-up North Korean missile launches, some of them over Japanese territory, and its sixth and most powerful nuclear test.
These actions have prompted a stepped-up US-led campaign to toughen UN sanctions, which Pyongyang has called an act of war.
Branding North Korea's leadership "depraved," President Donald Trump told Americans on Tuesday that Pyongyang’s pursuit of nuclear missiles could "very soon threaten our homeland" and vowed a continued campaign of maximum pressure to keep that from happening.
In his first State of the Union speech to the US Congress, Trump's tough rhetoric underscored persistent tensions despite recent talks between North and South Korea that led to Pyongyang’s agreement to participate in next months Winter Olympic Games hosted by Seoul.
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Earlier this year, the US government approved the sale of the anti-ballistic missiles to Japan to help defend itself against a growing North Korean threat.
The State Department asked Congress to approve the $133 million (£93m) sale of the four missiles and related hardware, which can be launched from destroyers at sea or from a land-based system.
Japan formally decided in December that it would expand its ballistic missile defence system with US-made ground-based Aegis radar stations and interceptors.
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