US conducts successful missile defence test
The US wants to install a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic
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Saturday, 06, Dec 2008 01:26
The US has successfully conducted a test of its missile defence systems.
A spokesman for the US military said a missile launched from Kodiak island in the northern most-state of Alaska was destroyed by an interceptor launched from California, on the country's lower west coast.
The Pentagon said 12 tests had been carried out on the system since 1999 out of which seven had been successful.
Relations between the US and Russia have been strained by the US' plans to place a missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic, former parts of the Soviet Union.
Russia fears that the systems placed in its neighbouring countries could be used to target it in the future, while the US maintains that they are to counter the threat posed by rogue states and do not have Russia in mind.
Russia has threatened to place missile systems pointing at its neighbours in Kaliningrad in response to the US plans.