U.S. Navy shows a Standard Missile - 3 (SM-3) being launched from the USS Hopper

This image provided by the U.S. Navy shows a Standard Missile - 3 (SM-3) being launched from the USS Hopper Thursday July 30, 2009 in the latest Missile Defense Agency test in conjunction with the U.S. Navy. The missile intercepted a short-range ballistic missile target launched a few minutes earlier from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. It was the 19th successful intercept in 23 at-sea firings by the Missile Defense Agency's Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program, the sea-based element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System

This image provided by the U.S. Navy shows a Standard Missile - 3 (SM-3) being launched from the USS Hopper Thursday July 30, 2009 in the latest Missile Defense Agency test in conjunction with the U.S. Navy. The missile intercepted a short-range ballistic missile target launched a few minutes earlier from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. It was the 19th successful intercept in 23 at-sea firings by the Missile Defense Agency's Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program, the sea-based element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System.