The Pentagon says it has tested its long range defence against assimilated Iranian missile attack. Officials said the interceptor failed to hit a target missile when a radar system malfunctioned. <br/><br/>The aborted test comes as more details are emerging of US plans for speeding the deployment of new defences in the Gulf to counter what is seen as the growing threat from Iran's short and medium range missiles. <br/><br/>This includes deploying special ships off the Iranian coast and Patriot anti-missile systems in several Gulf countries.