U.S. shoots down mock warhead over Pacific as fears grow over N. Korea missile capabilities

The Pentagon says it has shot down a mock warhead over the Pacific Ocean in what's being hailed as a success for the U.S. missile defence program.

Tuesday'stest was the first of its kind in nearly three years, and it was the first test ever targeting an intercontinental-range missile, like North Korea is developing.

The military says an interceptor rocket launched from an underground silo at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California slammed into the warhead as it travelled outside the Earth's atmosphere after being launched from a test range on theKwajaleinAtoll in the Pacific.

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During the test, a 1.5-metre-long "kill vehicle" was released from atop the interceptor and zeroed in on the ICBM-like target's mock warhead. The "kill vehicle" featuredthrusters that can home in on its target but carriedno explosives.

The planned target wasa custom-made missile meant to simulate an ICBM, meaning it canfly faster than missiles used in previous intercept tests, according to Christopher Johnson, spokesperson for the Pentagon's Missile Defence Agency (MDA).

The target wasnot a mock-up of an actual North Korean ICBM, and details of its exact capabilities have not been made public.

The Pentagon likens the defensive tactic to hitting a bullet with a bullet.

Despite the success of the $244-million US test, it's not confirmation that the U.S. is capable of defending itself against anyintercontinental-range missile fired by North Korea.

Pyongyang is understood to be moving closer to the capability of putting a nuclear warhead on such a missile and could have developed decoys sophisticated enough to trick an interceptor into missing the real warhead.