LIHU'E, Kaua'i — An interceptor missile launched from Kaua'i hit its target yesterday in the first such test in which a target was dropped from an airplane.

A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile was fired from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands to intercept a target launched from an Air Force C-17 aircraft at 4:16 p.m., the U.S. Missile Defense Agency reported.

The THAAD missile hit its target six minutes later.

"It was an amazing feat," said Col. William Lamb, THAAD project manager for the Missile Defense Agency.

The target had a dummy warhead that separated from its propellant base — another first for the testing program — which increased the challenge for the interceptor to detect and "kill" the correct piece of the target, Lamb said.

Lamb praised the team of Army soldiers from Fort Bliss, Texas, who operated the ground-based launcher that fired the THAAD missile, as well as the radar and command equipment that helped detect and track the target.

The soldiers didn't know when the target would be launched and manually engaged the target, which "brought increased operational realism" to the test, the agency release said.

"The test went very well," Lamb said.

Meanwhile, the Navy cruiser USS Lake Erie received a tracking cue from the THAAD system, and used its advanced SPY-1 radar to track the target missile and conduct a simulated firing of its onboard Standard Missile-3 interceptor missile.

The sharing of data between the Army and Navy is one reason the Pacific Missile Range Facility is such a good location for missile defense tests, Lamb said.

Last month, Fort Bliss became home to the country's first THAAD unit, Missile Defense Agency spokeswoman Pam Rogers said. Up to three more 100-soldier missile batteries could eventually join the unit, she said.

Lockheed Martin, the main contractor to the Missile Defense Agency for the THAAD program, expects to deliver 48 missiles, six launchers and two fire control and communication units to Fort Bliss under a $619 million production contract, the company said in a release.

The Bethesda, Md., company has developed and tested the THAAD anti-ballistic missiles since receiving a $4 billion contract in 2000, said company spokesman Marcello Bruni, who was among dozens of Lockheed employees on Kaua'i for yesterday's test.

Lockheed Martin also has 33 employees stationed at Kaua'i's Pacific Missile Range Facility.

Yesterday's test was the 35th successful hit-to-kill intercept out of 43 attempts in the atmosphere and in space since 2001, and was the 29th of 30 successful tests conducted since September 2005, the Missile Defense Agency said in a release.

THAAD missiles have been tested in the 2 million-square-mile Pacific Missile Range Facility four times since April 2007, Lamb said. A fifth test is expected in the fall.

Each major test like this one brings a one-time economic impact to Kaua'i of several million dollars, said Tom Clement, Pacific Missile Range Facility spokesman.