Bloomberg Politics:
The Pentagon will attempt a new test by the end of this month of whether it can intercept an intercontinental ballistic missile like the ones North Korea is seeking to develop, according to the deputy director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.
“It’s coming up later this month,” Rear Admiral Jon Hill said in remarks Tuesday at a “Missile Defense Day” gathering on Capitol Hill that had marketing displays by top contractors including Boeing Co., Raytheon Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp.
Hill said the test has “been planned for a while” and wasn’t intended as a provocation to North Korea or any other nation. Asked after his remarks about the timing, Hill described June 1 as an approximate window for the test.
The attempt to intercept a dummy target will take on symbolic importance whether it succeeds or fails, as North Korea ramps up its ballistic missile development and President Donald Trump vows to block Kim Jong Un’s regime from developing a nuclear weapon that could reach the U.S.
The next interception attempt will be the first since a successful test in June 2014. But before that, two tests failed in 2010.
