The cruiser USS Lake Eerie, which is equipped with the Aegis air defense system, will use an SM-3 missile to try to hit a short-range Aeries target missile fired from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, officials said.

A destroyer positioned uprange will cue the Lake Eerie to the target missile's trajectory.

The test was the latest in a Pentagon effort to field a sea-based missile defense against short-range and intermediate range missiles by 2005.

"The Navy is modifying three Aegis cruisers to carry some of the up to 20 (interceptor) missiles," said Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency.

"There have been three tests so far," he said. "All have been successful."

Wednesday's test will be the second in a series of six that seek to prove the technology that will be used for the sea-based system. The last test was in December.

The Pentagon also plans to field an initial ground-based system against long-range missiles by the end next year with the deployment of 10 ground-based interceptor missiles at Fort Greely, Alaska and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Another 10 missiles will be deployed the following year under the Pentagon's plan.

SPACE.WIRE