US missile test hits target

The missile was launched from Vandenberg base

An interceptor missile has hit a dummy warhead over the Pacific Ocean in a successful test of the controversial US missile defence system.

A modified Minuteman II intercontinental-range missile equipped with the mock warhead took off from a California air force base at 1939 local time (0239 GMT).

The US system will rely on tracking stations such as Menwith Hill in the UK

The interceptor was fired 21 minutes later from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

It managed to disregard the decoy that the Minuteman was carrying and smash into its intended target, the dummy warhead.

It was the fourth test so far - earlier efforts have been largely unsuccessful.

The BBC's defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus says that the Bush administration's enthusiasm for missile defence will continue undaunted.

The US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has said that Washington will seek a new "understanding" with Russia on nuclear weapons.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Mr Powell said the two countries needed a written understanding or joint statement - even if it fell short of a formal treaty - so that the Bush administration could move ahead with its missile defence project.

ABM treaty doubts

Our correspondent says that if such an agreement cannot be reached, perhaps over the next 12 months, the Americans look set to walk away from one of the key arms control treaties of the Cold War years - the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

The timeframe for the test was chosen to minimize the danger to boats and air traffic, normally reduced at that time at weekends. Of the past three tests, two were total misses, and even the partially successful test had technical problems.

Democrat pressure

Key Democrats on Capitol Hill are insisting that the pace of research must be more deliberate and the test programme more rigorous.

Many see no reason or need to violate the ABM treaty in the immediate future.

But the Bush team seems intent on placing missile defence on a fast track, our correspondent says.

In September, testing will begin on a ship-based system.

Eventually trials will also begin on a massive laser mounted on a jumbo jet.