WASHINGTON, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Department of Defense on Friday announced that the nation's missile defense system failed in a latest test with a ground-based interceptor missile failing to hit an incoming ballistic missile over the Pacific.

"Although a primary objective was the intercept of a long-range ballistic missile target launched from the U.S. Army's Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands, an intercept was not achieved," the department said in a short statement.

The interceptor missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, noted the Pentagon.

"Program officials will conduct an extensive review to determine the cause or causes of any anomalies which may have prevented a successful intercept," noted the statement.