U.S. AEGIS TEST DEEMED SUCCESSFUL

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States has reported success in the first ofsix tests of a ship-based missile defense system that would be deployed offthe Israeli coast during any war with Iraq. The Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. Navy said the Aegis BallisticMissile Defense system intercepted a ballistic missile launched from thePacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. On Thursday,a developmental Standard Missile 3 [SM-3] was fired from the Aegis ballisticmissile defense cruiser USS Lake Erie and acquired, tracked and divertedinto the target.