. | . |
US believes it can defend against N. Korea missiles, for now By Thomas WATKINS Washington (AFP) Nov 29, 2017 The US military remains confident it can -- at least for the moment -- protect against any North Korean missile threat, a US official said Wednesday after Pyongyang tested a new rocket type. North Korea earlier launched a previously unseen intercontinental ballistic missile, which it called a Hwasong 15 and claimed was capable of carrying a "super-large heavy warhead" to any target in the continental United States. US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said the missile flew higher than any other from North Korea, and warned that Pyongyang could soon threaten "everywhere in the world." The US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that America has not changed its assessment that its various missile defense systems can stop a North Korean missile attack, though the guarantee cannot be ensured indefinitely. "I don't think they could successfully nuke the US at this time," the official said. "There is a general sense we can stop whatever North Korea has right now. For the future, I don't know." The United States has spent decades and billions of dollars developing technologies to stop an incoming ballistic missile, and Congress is throwing billions more dollars at the Pentagon to step up its efforts. To protect against an ICBM, the military has the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, which is designed to fire an interceptor missile into space and use kinetic energy to destroy the incoming target. America has 44 interceptors in place at Fort Greely, Alaska and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It was put to the test in May, when the military successfully launched a GMD interceptor from the California base. - Checkered record - The missile blasted outside Earth's atmosphere and smashed into a dummy ICBM target, destroying it in a direct collision. But the GMD system has had a checkered record in previous tests -- failing in earlier launches against slower-moving targets. The official said the GMD system can shield the entire continental United States and its territories, so it is not yet necessary to install the system on the East Coast. The GMD can stop a small number of missiles from a rogue nation but would be overwhelmed by an all-out strike from a nuclear superpower like Russia. Such a move would likely trigger retaliatory action in what is known as Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). Some questions remain over the North's mastery of the technology required to guarantee any warhead would survive atmospheric re-entry -- the key element it has not yet demonstrated. The official said that the angle of re-entry demonstrated in Wednesday's test, in which the missile went very steeply up and down, did not prove that a re-entry vehicle could survive a flight along a lower arc. That is because the heat and friction generated by such a re-entry into Earth's atmosphere are far greater. Michael Elleman, a senior fellow for missile defense with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said North Korea was still a year away from being able to hit the West Coast of the US with a "viable" ICBM. "North Korea appears to have taken another minor step forward as it attempts to mature its ICBM technology," he wrote on the 38 North website that provides analysis on North Korea. "Many more tests are needed to establish the missile's performance and reliability, and it remains unclear if the North's engineers have attempted to validate the efficacy of the missile's re-entry vehicle." The US military and its allies have other missile defense systems available, including the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system capable of destroying short, medium and intermediate-range missiles in their final phase of flight.
Moscow (Sputnik) Nov 27, 2017 The A-135 system is part of the Russian Aerospace Forces. It protects Moscow from missiles strike and also plays an important role in the country's early warning and space control system. A new system has long been in development and is undergoing tests now. The Russian Defense Ministry has published footage showing the modernized missile defense system being tested. During the test conduc ... read more Related Links Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |