A Standard Missile-3 Block IIA was launched from Kauai Island in Hawaii using the Aegis Ashore technology - a land-based variant of the Aegis missile defense system - but it failed to hit a dummy projectile launched from an aircraft, a us official said.
The US Navy conducted a test intercept on Wednesday of its SM-3 Block IIA missile, part of the larger Aegis Ashore missile defence system.
The official said test data is being analyzed to determine why the interceptor, known as a Standard Missile 3 Block IIA, did not hit the target.
The agency, which manages USA missile defense systems, issued a statement saying the interceptor was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii.
Japan formally decided in December that it would expand its ballistic missile defence system with US-made ground-based Aegis radar stations and interceptors.
"The primary objective of the test was to intercept an air-launched intermediate-range ballistic missile target", the statement said.
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.
The minister noted the latest test had focused on coordination between the missile, radar and missile system, adding that the United States authorities were now looking into the details of the experiment.
It was unclear why the test failed and an analysis was underway, the official said. The SM-3 IIA will have to be tested again at Kauai before that happens.
The Missile Defence Agency is considering several locations to install a new Terminal High Altitude Air Defence (THAAD) interceptor system similar to the one which protects South Korea against a potential attack from the North, according to congressmen Mike Rogers and Adam Smith.
CNN claimed the failed test occurred on Wednesday - but the Pentagon refused to confirm the report due to the Trump administration's increasingly sensitive stand-off with Kim Jong-un's regime.
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