Japanese missile defense test fails off Hawaii

A Japanese naval destroyer failed to shoot down a ballistic missile target on Wednesday because of a glitch in the final stage of an interceptor missile made by Raytheon Co, a U.S. military official said.

The kinetic warhead's infrared "seeker" lost track in the last few seconds of the $55 million test, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) above Hawaiian waters, said U.S. Rear Admiral Brad Hicks, program director of the Aegis sea-based leg of an emerging U.S. anti-missile shield.

"This was a failure," he said in a teleconference with reporters. It brought the tally of Aegis intercepts to 16 in 20 tries.

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