As part of a month-long training exercise in the Outer Hebrides, a Dutch warship will be put to the test as it tries to detect and track a missile flying outside the earth’s atmosphere at more than 12,400mph – more than 16 times faster than the speed of sound.
The Dutch frigate, HNLMS De Ruyter, is fitted with a multi-beam acquisition radar that is able to fix on a target from long range.
In a statement, the US navy said: “The purpose of Formidable Shield is to improve allied interoperability in a live-fire integrated air and missile defence environment, using Nato command and control reporting structures.”
The war game will be led by the US navy and include forces from Britain, France, Canada, Germany, Spain and Italy.
The exercise, dubbed Formidable Shield, comes just days after North Korea’s most recent missile test as international tensions continue to grow.
Pyongyang threatened to sink Japan and said the US should be “beaten to death like a rabid dog” after the two countries called for additional UN sanctions in response to the nuclear and missile tests being carried out by the hermit state.
Choe Kang-il, deputy director general for North American affairs at the despotic regimes foreign ministry, said: “You can impose whatever sanctions you want, but no matter how long these sanctions last – whether it is for a hundred or a thousand years – we will keep stepping up efforts and continue with our planned tests.”
Mr Choe justified the missile by saying it was carried out “for the sanctity of our autonomy and nationhood, and to reveal the power of our deterrence.”
The latest launch on Friday saw a furious response from Donald Trump, who called on Russia and China to rein in the North Korean crisis.
The exercise off the coast of northern Scotland will be just the second ever test of Nato’s ballistic missile defence in Europe.
The last test, in October 2015, saw American warship the USS Ross take out an incoming missile during a live-fire drill.
The destroyer shot down from space a Terrier Orion ballistic missile. It was supported by USS The Sullivans, which shot at two aerial targets simulating anti-ship cruise missiles targeting the Ross.
The Hebrides Range, a large area of sea used for testing missile systems, was recently used to test a new Royal Navy air missile defence system.