US military conducts intercept test against simulated intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) attack

The US military has conducted its first-ever intercept test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), in what appears to be an evaluation of the US ability to counter a growing threat from North Korea.

The Tuesday test involved a simulated attack by an ICBM, firing off an upgraded long-range interceptor from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The US Missile Defense Agency declared in a statement that the launch was the first live-fire test for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) and hailed it as an "incredible accomplishment."

"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," said Vice Admiral Jim Syring, the director of the agency.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davies claimed earlier in the day that the US intercept test was not timed specifically to the current tensions between Washington and Pyongyang but added that "in a broad sense, North Korea is one of reasons why we have this capability."             

The test comes just days after North Korea launched its ninth ballistic missile so far this year.

"North Korea has expanded the size and the sophistication of its ballistic missile forces," Davis said. "They continue to conduct test launches, as we saw this weekend, while also using dangerous rhetoric that suggests they would strike the United States homeland."

The administration of US President Donald Trump has warned that military intervention in North Korea is an option being considered.

Earlier this month, the United Nations Security Council had called on Pyongyang not to conduct any further missile tests.

The North, under an array of sanctions for its missile and nuclear programs, says it is developing arms as deterrence against the US threat. North Korea has also said that it would not abandon its missile and nuclear programs unless the US ended its hostility toward Pyongyang.

Unsettled by North Korean missile and nuclear programs, the United States adopted a war-like posture, sending a strike group and conducting joint military drills with North Korea’s regional adversaries Japan and South Korea.

Meanwhile, the US military has begun deploying an advanced missile system in South Korea known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), raising the ire of North Korea, China, and Russia.