HUNTSVILLE, AL -- A THAAD missile successfully tracked and intercepted a short-range ballistic missile target inside the atmosphere Monday night in what was perhaps the most real-world test of the system so far, according to the Missile Defense Agency and Lockheed Martin, prime contractor for the program.

There were a number of "firsts" on this test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, said Tom McGrath, Lockheed Martin's vice president for the THAAD program.

The intercept occurred inside the atmosphere - it was "endo-atmospheric" - at the lowest altitude yet.

"The very low endo was key," he said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "It's difficult, of course, for any system, but this system is unique in that it can intercept both inside and outside the atmosphere."

At about 9:32 p.m. Hawaii time Monday, a "foreign military asset" ballistic missile target was launched in the Pacific west of the islands. About five minutes later, as the THAAD system's radars and team acquired and tracked the target, an interceptor missile was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility off the island of Kauai.

The soldiers of the 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, from Fort Bliss, Texas, who were operating the THAAD system knew a test would occur, but were not aware of the target's precise launch time, McGrath said. They also used the same tactics, training, eight-missile transportable launcher and other tools that are to go with them into the field.

"We were using the software and hardware that is planned to deploy with the soldiers," he said.

They also coordinated the test engagement with the soldiers of a PATRIOT missile defense battery located at Kauai, communicating and operating just as they would when they are eventually deployed together, McGrath said.

"We work very hard to keep the flights as realistic as possible," he said.

After the actual test engagement, a Simulation-Over-Live-Driver software program was used to test different scenarios in the THAAD radar system, he said. It first simulated the test intercept, then created a "mass raid" scenario with multiple targets.

All the testing was successful, McGrath said, praising the teams involved and pointing out there was much data to examine.

"It's a lot easier to analyze successes," he said.

This test makes a record of seven intercepts in seven attempts for an operational version of the THAAD system, which is managed by MDA in Washington, D.C., and executed by the THAAD Project Office in Huntsville.