US set to resume missile defense tests in Hawaii

HONOLULU — The latest U.S. missile defense test is expected to come Thursday evening in Hawaii waters as tensions continue with North Korea over that country’s missile program.

A short-range ballistic missile slated to be fired from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai was to be shot down by a three-stage interceptor missile from the USS Hopper.

The test, conducted by the Navy and the Department of Defense’s Missile Defense Agency, will mark the 23rd firing by ships equipped with the Aegis ballistic missile defense system. There have been 18 successes, including the shooting down of a dead U.S. spy satellite from space last year.

On July 4, North Korea violated U.N. Security Council resolutions by sending seven ballistic missiles into waters off its east coast. There had been speculation North Korea would launch a missile toward Hawaii — about 4,500 miles away — to coincide with the Independence Day holiday in the U.S.

Two other Navy ships will participate in the test, dubbed “Stellar Avenger.”

While the Hopper fires and guides an SM-3 Block IA missile to intercept the target missile in the upper atmosphere, the USS O’Kane will simulate engagement and the USS Lake Erie will detect and track the target, the agency said.

The Lake Erie will use an advanced version of the Aegis system in a simulation to evaluate how it would function with a SM-3 Block IB missile. Next year, the ship is to use the system to actually fire a new SM-3 Block IB, which features an improved propulsion system, signal processor and warhead seeker.