In this image taken with a slow shutter speed and provided by the U.S. Air Force, an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test just after midnight, Wednesday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this image taken with a slow shutter speed and provided by the U.S. Air Force, an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test just after midnight, Wednesday, May 3, 2017, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The U.S. has about 450 of the missiles and... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this image taken with a slow shutter speed and provided by the U.S. Air Force, an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test just after midnight, Wednesday, May 3, 2017, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The U.S. has about 450 of the missiles and... (Associated Press) In this image taken with a slow shutter speed and provided by the U.S. Air Force, an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test just after midnight, Wednesday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — An unarmed missile capable of sending a nuclear bomb across the world was launched Wednesday from a coastal California military base amid rising tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. 
 
 The unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile blasted off from a silo at 12:02 a.m. from Vandenberg Air Force Base and delivered a single re-entry vehicle to a target about 4,200 miles (6,800 kilometers) away at Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, the Air Force Global Strike Command said. 
 
 The test took 10 months to plan. It was the latest aimed at checking the readiness and accuracy of a weapon system that forms part of the U.S. nuclear force. The U.S. has about 450 of the missiles. Each can travel about 8,000 miles (12,900 kilometers). 
 
 It was the second such launch in seven days from the base in central California on the coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Last week's launch had been delayed from the fall. 
 
 The launches came amid U.S. expressions of concern about North Korea's nuclear capability. 
 
 New missile tests by North Korea and its progress toward developing a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States have made the isolated communist dictatorship one of the top U.S. national security concerns. 
 
 The U.S. has sent warships to the region to deter North Korea from conducting another nuclear test 
 
 But President Donald Trump on Monday said he might be willing to meet with that country's dictator, Kim Jong Un. 
 
 "If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honored to do it," Trump told Bloomberg News. ||||| WASHINGTON/VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (Reuters) - The U.S. military on Tuesday cheered a successful, first-ever missile defense test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile, in a major milestone for a program meant to defend against a mounting North Korean threat. 
 
 The U.S. military fired an ICBM-type missile from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands toward the waters just south of Alaska. It then fired a missile to intercept it from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. 
 
 Experts compare the job to hitting a bullet with another bullet and note the complexity is magnified by the enormous distances involved. 
 
 The Missile Defense Agency said it was the first live-fire test against a simulated ICBM for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), managed by Boeing Co (BA.N), and hailed it as an “incredible accomplishment.” 
 
 “This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat,” Vice Admiral Jim Syring, director of the agency, said in a statement. 
 
 A successful test was by no means guaranteed and the Pentagon sought to manage expectations earlier in the day, noting that the United States had multiple ways to try to shoot down a missile from North Korea. 
 
 “This is one element of a broader missile defense strategy that we can use to employ against potential threats,” Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters. 
 
 Slideshow (4 Images) 
 
 Prior to Tuesday’s launch, the GMD system had successfully hit its target in only nine of 17 tests since 1999. The last test was in 2014. 
 
 North Korea has dramatically ramped up missile tests over the past year in its effort to develop an ICBM that can strike the U.S. mainland. 
 
 The continental United States is around 9,000 km (5,500 miles) from North Korea. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500 km (3,400 miles), but some are designed to travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles) or farther. 
 
 Riki Ellison, founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, described the test as “vital” prior to launch. 
 
 “We are replicating our ability to defend the United States of America from North Korea, today,” Ellison said. 
 
 Failure could have deepened concern about a program that according to one estimate has so far cost more than $40 billion. Its success could translate into calls by Congress to speed development. 
 
 In the fiscal year 2018 budget proposal sent to Congress last week, the Pentagon requested $7.9 billion for the Missile Defense Agency, including about $1.5 billion for the GMD program. 
 
 A 2016 assessment released by the Pentagon’s weapons testing office in January said that U.S. ground-based interceptors meant to knock out any incoming ICBM still had low reliability, giving the system a limited capability of shielding the United States. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 / Updated By Courtney Kube, Andrew Rafferty and The Associated Press 
 
 WASHINGTON — The Pentagon successfully tested a U.S. long-range interceptor missile over the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday in an exercise aimed at helping gauge American readiness to counter a potential threat from North Korea. 
 
 During the test, the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency launched an interceptor rocket from an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The interceptor hit and destroyed an intercontinental-range missile fired from a test site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific, the Pentagon announced. 
 
 U.S. Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Adm. Jim Syring called the test a "critical milestone" in a statement. 
 
 "This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat. I am incredibly proud of the warfighters who executed this test and who operate this system every day," Syring said. 
 
 The U.S. military's test comes on the heels of North Korea's reported launch of a military projectile Monday morning that landed in Japan's maritime economic zone. It also comes amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Pyongyang over North Korea's continued provocations under leader Kim Jong Un. 
 
 North Korea has said it is working on an ICBM, which could potentially hit the West Coast, and American officials are concerned about the possibility the North Koreans could miniaturize a warhead to put on an ICBM. 
 
 General John Hyten, the head of U.S. Strategic Command, has said Pyongyang already has ICBM capability, but still lacks a miniaturized warhead. 
 
 The $244 million test does not necessarily confirm that the American military is capable of defending itself against an intercontinental-range missile fired by North Korea. Pyongyang also is understood to be moving closer to the capability of putting a nuclear warhead on such a missile and could have developed decoys sophisticated enough to trick an interceptor into missing the real warhead. 
 
 President Donald Trump was briefed after a North Korean missile test earlier this month and the White House said in a statement at the time that "North Korea has been a flagrant menace for far too long." 
 
 During a recent visit to South Korea, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said "the policy of strategic patience (with North Korea) has ended," and he added that military action could be on the table if North Korea elevates the threat of its weapons programs. 
 
 Before Tuesday, the most recent intercept test, in June 2014, also was successful, but the longer track record is spotty. Since the system was declared ready for potential combat use in 2004, only four of nine intercept attempts have been successful. 
 
 A Ground-based Midcourse Defense interceptor is launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base, California on June 22, 2014. Michael Peterson / MDA 
 
 North Korea says its nuclear and missile programs are a defense against perceived U.S. military threats. 
 
 Laura Grego, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, which has criticized the U.S. missile defense program, calls the interceptor an "advanced prototype," meaning it is not fully matured technologically even if it has been deployed and theoretically available for combat since 2004. 
 
 The interceptors are, in essence, the last line of U.S. defense against an attack by an intercontinental-range missile. 
 
 The Pentagon has other elements of missile defense that have shown to be more reliable, although they are designed to work against medium-range or shorter-range ballistic missiles. These include the Patriot missile, which numerous countries have purchased from the U.S., and the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, which the U.S. deployed this year to South Korea to defend against medium-range missiles from North Korea.
– An unarmed missile capable of sending a nuclear bomb across the world was launched Wednesday from a California military base amid rising tensions between the US and North Korea. The unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile blasted off from a silo at 12:02am from Vandenberg Air Force Base and delivered a single re-entry vehicle to a target about 4,200 miles away at Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, the Air Force Global Strike Command said. The test took 10 months to plan. It was the latest aimed at checking the readiness and accuracy of a weapon system that forms part of the US nuclear force. The US has about 450 of the missiles. Each can travel about 8,000 miles. It was the second such launch in seven days, the AP reports. The launches came amid US expressions of concern about North Korea's nuclear capability. Per the Los Angeles Times, the Air Force said the purpose of Wednesday's test was to ensure the missile is reliable and can function as an "effective nuclear deterrent." New missile tests by North Korea and its progress toward developing a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the US have made it one of the top US national security concerns. The US has sent warships to the region to deter North Korea from conducting another nuclear test. But President Trump on Monday said he might be willing to meet with Kim Jong Un. "If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honored to do it," Trump told Bloomberg News.