Video shows U.S. interceptor destroying ICBM over Pacific Ocean

The Pentagon released a video Wednesday showing the point of impact during Tuesday’s ICBM interceptor test proving the United States’ ability to protect itself from intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) attack.

The footage shows the launch of an ICBM launched from the Ronald Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands and the ground-based interceptor fired from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base. Two infrared views then capture the moment the ‘kill vehicle’ intercepts and destroys the target in a direct collision over the Pacific Ocean.

This marks the first live-fire test of U.S. defenses against an intercontinental ballistic missile, according to the Pentagon.