The U.S. is ready for a “Christmas gift” from the North Koreans in the form of a long-range ballistic missile test, a USAF official says.

The USAF's Space and Missile Systems Center was responsible for rapidly buying the medium-range, ground-launched ballistic missile that traveled more than 310.6 mi. Dec. 12 from Vandenberg AFB in California.

The U.S. military on Dec. 12 lofted an intermediate-range, ground-launched ballistic missile traveling more than 500 km.