U.S. interceptor missile hits target

LOS ANGELES - An interceptor missile destroyed a mock warhead over the Pacific Ocean on Friday in a key test of the nation's missile defense system, officials said.

It was the most realistic test of the systems that would be used against an attack, said Missile Defense Agency spokesman Rick Lehner.

The 54-foot interceptor shot out of an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central California coast at 10:39 a.m., 17 minutes after the mock warhead was launched from Kodiak Island, Alaska, Lehner said.