File photo of USS John Paul Jones (Courtesy of U.S. Department of Defense)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the Navy conducted a missile defense flight test over the Pacific, which successfully intercepted a medium-range ballistic missile, a MDA statement said on Wednesday.

The test was conducted off the coast of Hawaii from the USS John Paul Jones, using Standard Missile-6 guided missiles, according to the statement.

John Paul Jones detected and tracked a target missile launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii with its onboard AN/SPY-1 radar, and onboard SM-6 missiles executed the intercept, it added.

"We are working closely with the fleet to develop this important new capability, and this was a key milestone in giving our Aegis BMD ships an enhanced capability to defeat ballistic missiles in their terminal phase," said MDA Director Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves.

The test, designated Flight Test Standard Missile-27 Event 2 (FTM-27 E2), marks the second time that an SM-6 missile has successfully intercepted a medium-range ballistic missile target.