classified time. the icbm was launched unarmed from the marshall islands in the pacific. a few minutes after that, the intercepter was launched from here at vandenberg. with the icbm traveling around 16,000 miles per hour, basically a five foot long very high tech metal projectile will separate from the intercepter missile and hopefully strike the incoming icbm. we were told in an exclusive interview, it s no easy task. listen here. it s very difficult. we re talking about intercepting in space at hundreds of miles of altitude with closing velocities of 1,000 miles per hour. it s hitting a bullet with a bullet. but it s the missile s defense agency s job to perfect the hitting of a bullet with a
missile similar to the one north korea is now said to be developing. the missile took off from california s vandenberg air force base in an attempt to intercept the missile that was launched from the marshall islands. analysts say this could be very challenging. this defense system has a little more than a 50% success rate when the pentagon used it to try to shoot down shorter range missiles. north korean officials launched their third ballistic missile test this month according to defense officials and we re continuing to watch this video. as we do, i want to turn to jonathan hunt who is at vandenberg air force. explain what is supposed to happen now, jonathan. it was a spectacular sight as you can plainly see as the ground-based intercepter missile took off from here at vandenberg air force. about now when the actual minutes to intercept is a
vanderberg air force base. this is possibly the most important test the u.s. has ever done. is that right? i think undeniably the most important test of the missile defense system that the u.s. has ever under taken. that s because it is the first time that the u.s. will try to knock down an intercontinental ballistic missile similar to the one north korea is developing and according to officials is well on the path to having fully developed. they believe the north koreans will be able given the pace of their current testing to hit the u.s. with a nuclear war head within a matter of a few years. so what the u.s. will do today is launch an icbm out of the marshal islands in the pacific ocean. a few minutes after that launch from here. they ll launch the intercepter missile which they hope will then strike the icmb in space above the pacific and destroy it.
reporter: i m just hearing you now, anderson. what i can tell you is that the japanese government is saying that they believe the flying vessel from north korea, they did detect it and that it was in the air for just over one minute. now, the plan was that if that flew over japanese territory, if the rocket broke up and started to threaten this land, that the patriot missile you see behind me, it s an intercepter missile, land-to-air, that it would fire off and that it potentially would with try to take some of those pieces down. that was not the case, because the rocket then in just over one minute did break up, according to the japanese government, and then fell harmlessly into the sea. at this point, japanese security meeting is taking place and they expect to have some sort of guidance after that meeting wraps up, some time this morning here in tokyo, anderson. kyung lah, appreciate the reporting on that. we re going to check in with our correspondent, stan grant, who