Land-based launcher fires Navy's Standard Missile-3

The U.S. Navy has fired a Standard Missile-3 from a land-based launcher, a key test as the United States moves toward deploying the interceptor in Romania to protect Europe from ballistic missile attacks.

The Standard Missile-3 roared into the sky from an Aegis Ashore test site located at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai, Hawaii.

The test on Tuesday did not involve a target and was designed to answer one question: Can an SM-3 be launched from a land-based combat weapon system as well as it can from sea?

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