Kwajalein

Kwajalein, atoll, Marshall Islands, west central Pacific Ocean, in the Ralik Chain. It consists of a group of coral islets, surrounding a large lagoon. The total land area is 16 sq km (6 sq mi). During World War II the atoll was strongly fortified as a military base by the Japanese. It was taken by American forces in 1944. A United States missile testing and tracking base is here. In the course of a military test conducted in July 2001, an interceptor missile, fired from Kwajalein, destroyed at a height of about 230 km (143 mi) a mock nuclear warhead launched in California. This was the first test of this kind in the 'Son of Star Wars' defence programme planned by the United States.