U.S. tests ground launch cruise missile banned under INF

The U.S. military conducted a flight test of a conventional ground-launched cruise missile off the western coast of the U.S. Sunday, a missile test that would have been previously banned under the now defunct Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the Pentagon said.

"The Department of Defense conducted a flight test of a conventionally-configured ground-launched cruise missile off the US West Coast Sunday. We are currently evaluating the results of the test," CNN cited Lt. Col. Carla Gleason as saying.

The test was conducted from San Nicolas Island, California, and the Pentagon said that "the test missile exited its ground mobile launcher and accurately impacted its target after more than 500 kilometers of flight."

Officials stressed that the missile is designed to carry a conventional and not a nuclear payload.

U.S. defense officials said that "data collected and lessons learned from this test will inform the Department of Defense's development of future intermediate-range capabilities."