Navy tries sea-based missile defense- it works

Here's an important defense note:

The Navy intercepted and destroyed a warhead as it separated from its booster rocket during a test Thursday off Hawaii -- the first time a ship at sea has shot down a multi-stage missile.

The guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie fired an interceptor missile and knocked out the rocket's warhead about 100 miles (160 kilometers) above the Pacific, the Missile Defense Agency said in a statement.

More info on the SM-3 system here.