The first test of the LTV-Boeing ASM-135A air-launched anti-satellite weapon against a target is successfully carried out over the Western Test Range, Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Launched from an F-15, the missile destroys a satellite orbiting at a speed of 17,500 mph approximately 290 miles above Earth.
Navy Adm. Samuel J. Paparo Jr. assumed leadership of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, succeeding Navy Adm. John Aquilino at a change of command ceremony, urging action amid China's “increasing intrusive and expansionist claims,” on May 3