--- title: "Watch a Missile Smash a Dummy Nuclear Warhead Out of the Sky" description: "## Midair Meeting" date: "2018-11-02" modified: "2018-11-02" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/us-warship-intercepted-fake-nuclear-missile-projectile" categories: - "Energy" - "Nuclear Fusion" - "Renewable Energy" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "ballistic missile" - "Pentagon" - "the digest" - "u.s. army" --- # Watch a Missile Smash a Dummy Nuclear Warhead Out of the Sky ![A US warship just succesfully intercepted a dummy nuclear missile with another missile for the second time. But will it actually prevent disaster?]() *\Image: U.S. Navy\* ## Midair Meeting The Pentagon just pulled off an extraordinary feat: it [shot]() a dummy nuclear missile out of the sky, using another missile. On October 26, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency launched a fake medium-range nuclear missile from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii. Moments later, the destroyer USS John Finn fired a specialized "interceptor" called the SM-3 Block IIA — a U.S.-Japanese missile designed to intercept enemy missiles. ## Threading the Needle The SM-3 can launch from land or sea, and was designed to intercept short- and medium-range ballistic missiles — very much like the ones in [Russia]() and [North Korea]()'s stockpiles. According to manufacturer Raytheon, the SM-3 interceptor is [designed to slam into the target]() at a force of a "10-ton truck traveling 600 mph." It doesn't explode upon impact — it simply rams the enemy missile at ultra-high speeds to destroy it. ## Don't Press The Red Button It's the second successful demonstration of the SM-3 after two failed attempts in June 2017 and January 2018, [according to]() *Defense News*. The first was a spectacular mission failure when a sailor accidentally caused the SM-3 missile to self-destruct mid-flight. A recently released [video]() shows the SM-3 colliding with the dummy missile in mid-air: https://youtu.be/FlvwItPHVG4 ## Shooting Bullets With Bullets It's a spectacular feat that essentially amounts to hitting a high-velocity target with another even faster missile — think of it as [shooting a bullet out of the sky with another bullet](). Will it save us from nuclear armageddon? Impossible to tell at this early stage. But the enemy is bound to be paying attention as well, meeting U.S. advancements in missile technology [with their own](). **READ MORE: [After consecutive failures, watch US Navy intercept test missile with SM-3 weapon]() \[*Defense News*\]** **More on anti-missile technology: [Russia Is Building an AI-Powered Missile That Can Think for Itself]()** ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()