A target missile representing China's DF- 21D "carrier killer" ballistic missile was destroyed by a pair of U.S. Navy RIM-174 Standard Extended Range Active Missile (ERAM), or Standard Missile 6 (SM-6), off the coast of Hawaii on Dec. 14.

The test was held to prove the capability of the SM-6 fired from the navy's Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to shoot down the DF-21D, which China claims can sink a navy carrier over a thousand kilometers off the Chinese mainland.

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The medium-range ballistic missile target representing the DF-21D was the most capable and maneuverable ballistic missile deployed in the Pacific. It was built by Lockheed Martin's Targets and Countermeasures team.

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the USS John Paul Jones, which is equipped with the Aegis Combat System Baseline 9.C1, fired two SM-6 Dual I missiles against a "complex, medium-range ballistic missile target."

The SM-6 Dual I version is designed to successfully intercept a ballistic missiles in the terminal phase, or the last few seconds before missile impact. The Dual I upgrade adds a more powerful processor running more sophisticated targeting software to hit a warhead plummeting from the upper atmosphere at extreme speed.

All 62 operational Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are equipped with the SM-6 and the Aegis Combat System. Each destroyer can carry 96 missiles of various types.

The test, designated Flight Test Standard Missile-27 (FTM-27), proved the sea-based terminal endo-atmospheric defensive capability of the SM-6 and met the test's primary objective, said the MDA.

"This test demonstrated the capabilities MDA and the Navy are delivering to our fleet commanders," said MDA Director Vice Admiral James Syring.

"The SM-6 missile and the Aegis Weapon System continue to prove that they are critical components of our nation's multilayered, robust ballistic-missile defense system."

The SM-6 missile uses an explosive warhead to destroy a ballistic missile unlike other U.S. missiles such as THAAD and the Standard Missile-3 that use non-explosive hit-to-kill technology.

"The recent ballistic missile defense test off the coast of Hawaii demonstrates, yet again, that Aegis can successfully execute complicated missions against a complex, medium-range ballistic missile target," said Paul Klammer, director, Aegis BMD, for Lockheed Martin.

Aegis Baseline 9 is the key to Aegis modernization, and merges area anti-air warfare with ballistic missile defense into a truly integrated air and missile defense. The Aegis Baseline 9 enhancements enable Aegis to continue to evolve to counter advanced threats such as the DF-21D.

The DF-21D is a road mobile, medium-range, anti-ship designed to sink U.S. Navy aircraft carriers with its maneuverable re-entry vehicles.

China probably operates seven anti-ship missile brigades, each equipped with up to 32 DF-21D launchers. Chinese videos show DF-21 missiles launched in salvos of six at a time. 

TagsDF- 21D "carrier killer" ballistic missile, RIM-174 Standard Extended Range Active Missile (ERAM), Standard Missile 6 (SM-6), Missile Defense Agency, USS John Paul Jones