Tokyo - Japanese naval destroyer Choukai failed to intercept a mock test missile over Hawaii, the Japanese Defence Ministry said Thursday. The high-tech Aegis destroyer Choukai of Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Force failed to shoot down the test missile aimed at mimicking an intermediate-range North Korean ballistic missile attack, with a Standard Missile-3 interceptor.
This was the second test-launch after another destroyer Kongo conducted the test last December.
Choukai launched the interceptor in space over Hawaii early Thursday after detecting the mock missile with a radar.
The Aegis destroyer was to be deployed at a Sasebo base in southern Japanese province of Nagasaki by the end of the year, according to Jiji Press.
