According to the Pentagon, a recent success in a test conducted by the nation's missile defense system could boost support for the controversial project, which is designed to protect America from missiles fired by countries such as North Korea and Iran.

The Pentagon says last Friday a missile launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California flew over the Pacific Ocean and destroyed a target missile launched 24 minutes earlier from Kodiak Island, Alaska.

The test was designed to emulate an attack from a country like North Korea on the United States. The system is designed to defend the country against a long-range ballistic missile that could be used to attack an American city with a weapon of mass destruction.

The director of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, Lieutenant General Henry Obering, says being able to track and target individual missiles is critical to the defense of the country.

To protect against missiles from Iran, the United States has proposed building a battery of 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic.

Russia strongly opposes the plan, and has suggested that a Soviet-era radar system in Azerbaijan could be used as an alternative.

General Obering says the successful test over the Pacific could boost the support of European governments that have been reluctant to embrace the missile defense proposal.