"It was the first sea-based intercept of a ballistic missile in its terminal phase," the agency said.

The USS Lake Erie, an Aegis cruiser that has been modified for missile defense operations, used a Standard Missile-2 Block IV missile to intercept a short range ballistic missile off Hawaii, the agency said.

The goal of the test was to show that the target missile could be destroyed in the last few seconds of flight either with a direct hit or with a blast close enough to knock it down.

"In today's test, the threat missile was completely destroyed by the combined effects of these two mechanisms," the agency said.

The US military has a ground-based missile defense system, the Patriot Advanced Capability-3, designed to intercept and destroy incoming short-range missiles. But it has no ship-borne capability.

A Pentagon report this week highlighted the threat to US aircraft carriers and surface warships of China's ballistic missiles.