A Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) is launched from the Aegis cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67), during a joint Missile Defense Agency, US Navy ballistic missile flight test in this June 22, 2006 file photo. The test was the seventh intercept, in eight program flight tests, by the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense, the maritime component of the "Hit-to-Kill" Ballistic Missile Defense System, being developed by the Missile Defense Agency. The maritime capability is designed to intercept short to medium-range ballistic missile threats in the midcourse phase of flight. [Reuters]