The US Missile Defense Agency said Friday it would soon test an anti-ballistic missile system, days after North Korea demonstrated its arsenal was capable of striking parts of Alaska.

The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to be tested is designed to intercept and destroy short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles during their final phase of flight.

The MDA said the test against a ballistic missile target would be conducted at the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska in Kodiak, Alaska.

THAAD "will detect, track and engage a target with a THAAD interceptor" rocket in "early July," the MDA said in a statement.

Though such exercises are planned months in advance, it comes after North Korea on Tuesday for the first time test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching parts of the United States including Alaska.

THAAD is not designed to stop an ICBM -- that job is left primarily to the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptor system.

The US military this year began deploying THAAD to South Korea, a move that infuriated China, which has argued the deployment would further destabilize the situation on the Korean peninsula.

US THAAD batteries are also installed in Guam and Hawaii, designed to stop an intermediate-range missile from North Korea.

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Lockheed Martin receives $73.8 million long-range precision fires contract
Washington (UPI) Jul 6, 2017
Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $73.8 million contract for work on Phase 2 of the U.S. Army's Long Range Precision Fires battlefield missile program. Phase 2 of the program includes technology development to produce a prototype missile and its two-missile Launch Pod Missile Containers for transport and mounting on compatible missile launchers. "We intend to demonstrate to our ... read more

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