US Destroyer Fires SM-3 Anti-Ballistic Missile At NATO Missile Defense Drills - US Navy

US destroyer USS Roosevelt, engaged in ongoing NATO missile defense drills, fired an SM-3 missile on Saturday, the US Naval Forces Europe-Africa said

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th May, 2019) US destroyer USS Roosevelt, engaged in ongoing NATO missile defense drills, fired an SM-3 missile on Saturday, the US Naval Forces Europe-Africa said.

According to NATO, ships from nine NATO members the United States, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom are taking part in the live-fire air and missile defense drills, titled Formidable Shield (FS). The exercise started on May 7 and will run until May 19 off the coast of Scotland. During the drills, in which 13 ships, 10 aircraft and around 3,300 staff are involved, allies rehearse detecting, tracking and defending against a variety of anti-ship and ballistic missiles using NATO command and control procedures.

"#USSRoosevelt fires an SM-3 missile [at] #FormidableShield2019. #FS19 improves allied #interoperability in a live-fire, integrated air and missile defense environment 9 nations are participating," the US Naval Forces Europe-Africa wrote on Twitter.

US President Donald Trump presented in March a renewed missile defense strategy, which took into consideration new challenges, including alleged threats coming from Russia. The strategy envisioned, among other things, that US missile defense capacities in Romania and Poland would receive a new modification of the SM-3 anti-ballistic missile, enabling interception outside the Earth's atmosphere.