November 21, 2002 is likely to be remembered by the national security community not only as the day the U.S. Navy successfully intercepted a ballisticmissiletarget in its "ascent" phase.
The test, in which an Aegis ballisticmissile cruiser shot down a target fired from Hawaii, was the first exo-atmospheric kinetic intercept of a ballisticmissile in the ascent phase of flight, and the third intercept from an Aegis warship.
Nowhere is this more evident than in China's development of an anti-ship ballisticmissile capability, specifically designed to target U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups that are the principle obstacle to China's expansion goals in the Western Pacific.