The Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) element of the US ballistic missile defense system launched Tuesday during a flight test from Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California, reported Voice of America. 

The Pentagon says its first-ever missile defense test involving an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was a success.

The test involved two separate missile launches. A simulated attack intercontinental ballistic missile was fired from a tiny island in the Pacific. A second missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The second missile successfully intercepted the first missile over the ocean, destroying it in mid-flight.

“The intercept of a complex threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment,” Vice Admiral Jim Syring of the Missile Defense Agency said. “This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat.”