A 3 (SM-3) missile is launched from the Pearl Harbor-based Aegis cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70), during a joint Missile Defense Agency, U.S. Navy ballistic missile flight test November 17, 2005. Minutes later, the SM-3 intercepted a separating ballistic missile threat target, launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. The test was the sixth intercept, in seven flight tests, by the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense, the maritime component of the 'Hit-to-Kill' Ballistic Missile Defense System, being developed by the Missile Defense Agency. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY REUTERS/U.S. Navy Photo/Handout
This photo provided by the U.S. Navy shows a Standard Missile - 3 or SM-3, as it is launched from the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie during a joint Missile Defense Agency, U.S. Navy ballistic missile flight test Thursday, Nov. 17, 2005, off Hawaii. Minutes later, the SM-3 intercepted a separating ballistic missile threat target, launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. The launch was part of a test by the Navy to intercept and destroy a warhead as it separated from its booster rocket. This is the first time a ship at sea has shot down a multi-stage missile. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy)