A double-edged achievement

The US military reportedly launched a ground-based interceptor from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Tuesday that successfully intercepted an intercontinental ballistic missile target fired from the Reagan Test Site in the Marshall Islands.

Given that previous ground-based antimissile tests conducted by the United States were all targeted at slower-moving medium-range ballistic missiles, the successful interception of a more complex and longer-range ICBM target marks a new and huge accomplishment for the US' anti-missile system.

The technology behind the Ground-based Midcourse Defense is extremely complex, and the system uses globally deployed sensors to detect and track ballistic missile threats. The interception is a move that is compared to hitting a bullet with another bullet, though at far higher speeds. Undoubtedly, the interception of the ICBM demonstrates the remarkable progress the US has made in technologies such as the development of hypersonic engines, intelligent control, precision fast tracking and energy release management.