With the help of a Dutch frigate, the US Navy intercepts ballistic missiles.
During the Formidable Shield 2021 NATO sea exercises off the coast of Scotland, the US Navy destroyer USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) used two Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Blk IA interceptors to destroy ballistic missiles while they were still in space with the help of a Dutch De Zeven Provincien-class frigate.
The ability of the US Navy to intercept ballistic missiles isn't new, but the ability to do so in collaboration with NATO ships is. The fact that this marine capability was previously limited to the United States due to the nature of the technology is noteworthy.
The SM-3 employed in the testing has a range of 652 miles (1,050 kilometers) and a top speed of Mach 10 (6,615 knots, 7,613 mph, 12,251 km/h), but such capabilities are meaningless without the ships' systems for detecting and monitoring incoming missiles and then calculating exact intercept trajectories. The latter is crucial because the interceptor is a kinetic kill vehicle, which means it doesn't employ an explosive payload to destroy its target. The missile and interceptor's combined hypersonic closing speed is so high that mere momentum is more than enough force for the job, which is similar to hitting a bullet with a bullet.
This necessitates extremely exact computations and course modifications. On May 26 and 30, 2021, the missiles were shot from the Hebrides Range, which is managed by the British Ministry of Defence off the northwest coast of Scotland, as part of the Formidable Shield exercise.

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