U.S. Missile Defense Test Over Pacific Ocean a Key Milestone

The Pentagon successfully tested a U.S. long-range interceptor missile over the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday in an exercise aimed at helping gauge American readiness to counter a potential threat from North Korea.

During the test, the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency launched an interceptor rocket from an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The interceptor hit and destroyed an intercontinental-range missile fired from a test site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific, the Pentagon announced.

U.S. Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Adm. Jim Syring called the test a "critical milestone" in a statement.

"This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat. I am incredibly proud of the warfighters who executed this test and who operate this system every day," Syring said.

www.nbcnews.com...

Success. The US military has intercepted a dummy ICBM missile from an Atoll in the pacific with a missile fired from California. This is a milestone, and is vital to defend our homeland said Jim Syring, US missile defense vice admiral.

Do you feel safer?

Not as safe as I would feel with the Starship Enterprise in stationary orbit over NK.

I wonder if the directed energy stuff is in orbit?

a reply to: whywhynot

The x-37 is in space doing and delivering something, who knows what?

Theatre, more money for the military industrial complex while Putin, Clinton, Trump and whoever runs China are having weird rituals in Saudi Arabia, laughing over cocktails and planning pretend wars to send our kids too.

a reply to: seasonal

As I said in the other thread on this subject, I'm amazed that it's taken us so many decades to develop a "working" version of this kind of defense against incoming ICBM missiles. How many years ago did the USSR have ICB Missiles, able to hit the U.S. mainland?

Does Russia already have the ability to shoot down an incoming ICBM?

The $244 million test will not confirm that the U.S. is capable of defending itself against an intercontinental-range missile fired by North Korea. Pyongyang also is understood to be moving closer to the capability of putting a nuclear warhead on such a missile and could have developed decoys sophisticated enough to trick an interceptor into missing the real warhead.

Fox Source

We can kill SCUD(s). ICBM(s) are a different animal.

I feel about as safe as I always do. ICBM's are still as scary as they were yesterday.

originally posted by: carewemust
a reply to: seasonal

As I said in the other thread on this subject, I'm amazed that it's taken us so many decades to develop a "working" version of this kind of defense against incoming ICBM missiles. How many years ago did the USSR have ICB Missiles, able to hit the U.S. mainland?

Does Russia already have the ability to shoot down an incoming ICBM?

Maybe none of these things are real just manufactured garbage to distract us with and come up with excuses to send all our young men (and now women) to war in a Game of Throne style chess match played by the elite.

Don't we just live in fun times... As a person who currently lives in Seattle, I love that when west coast strikes are discussed, my city seems to be the city guessed to be hit... ahhh, sleeping well every night lately haha

a reply to: carewemust

The Russian approach is the same as the old American approach was. Kill an ICBM with a nuclear weapon by launching a nuclear weapon at it. In this case the Gazelle missile with a nuclear warhead on it.

Russian A-135 system

a reply to: seasonal

It makes absolutely no sense for such an event to be staged by the US. The record of such hits and misses is not flattering.
On the other hand, the propaganda advantage for Little Kim if we missed would be huge and he would have seize upon it.

The only rational explanation is that we knew that the latest trial would be a success. The only way that could be insured was that if the actual interception failed we had other ways to destroy the missile. However, videos of a successful interception going as planned say nothing about the foolhardiness of the plan itself unless there was a backup system.

IF that was actually a gamble taken by our entire chain of command, something is terrible wrong. I hate to say it, but with such a noteworthy shot to happen at this time suggests that Trump's hands were all over it to show the little NK bastard who is boss.

a reply to: toysforadults

Nothing new under the sun. It's a game to many of them.

And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out, and met together by the pool of Gibeon: and they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool.

And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.

Then there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, which pertained to Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.

And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow's side; so they fell down together: wherefore that place was called Helkathhazzurim, which is in Gibeon.

And there was a very sore battle that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David.
2 Samuel 2:13-17

a reply to: seasonal

Do you feel safer?

# yea I do! Now lets get North Ko. over with before they make us take back the extra four THAAD batteries out of Ko. Sur .

a reply to: worldstarcountry

There is no getting North Korea over with. They are a formidable foe with nuclear weapons. There's a few million people in Seoul who would be under direct threat, including about 30 thousand US troops south of the DMZ who would likely all perish if we engaged with North Korea, or if North Korea decided to attack.

North Korea isn't some roll over. They are the ninth nuclear power in the world. Any military campaign in North Korea would be long, bloody, and drawn out. They are not some crappy desert in the Middle East.

I wish you guys would read about how formidable they are. I feel like I'm beating a dead horse when i have to cite the same information over and over again.

I'm in middle America surrounded by limestone caves.

So, yes, I feel safe .
All the powers in the world don't scare me.

originally posted by: AnonyMason
a reply to: carewemust

The Russian approach is the same as the old American approach was. Kill an ICBM with a nuclear weapon by launching a nuclear weapon at it. In this case the Gazelle missile with a nuclear warhead on it.

Russian A-135 system

Holy crap! With those type of "systems", every life-form on Earth and its Oceans would die from radiation poisoning falling from the sky. We'd watch the mother of all fireworks shows.. and then die horribly.

How high up in the sky would each country's defensive nukes explode to destroy the enemy ICBM? Would the enemy ICBM explode too?!

a reply to: carewemust

It depends on how successful they are but they are designed to be detonated in space. The original Nike Zeus was also a nuclear ICBM defense system originally. Eventually they became the first successful hit to kill ABM system in the world.

A brief overview of missile defense systems through history.

a reply to: AnonyMason



Everyone should find a video of U.S. Defense Secretary James "Mad Dog" Mattis's appearance on CBS's Flog The Nation, Sunday. He's brave and experienced beyond belief.

Excerpted from: www.foxnews.com...

""Mattis said in a televised interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that a conflict with North Korea would be “probably the worst kind of fighting in most people’s lifetime.”

“The bottom line is it would be a catastrophic war if this turns into a combat if we’re not able to resolve this situation through diplomatic means,” he said.""

a reply to: carewemust

“The bottom line is it would be a catastrophic war if this turns into a combat if we’re not able to resolve this situation through diplomatic means,” he said.""

Mattis has the decency to tell the truth about what happens if war ensues.

So many here think it would be so easy to win a war agains the NORK's.

Would be a bloodbath.

a reply to: carewemust

Bad war, but huge profits.

a reply to: carewemust

I agree whole heartedly.

I'll share this with you guys again just because i get tired of retyping all of the same information

originally posted by: AnonyMason
I was working on a thread just like this one but will instead post my compiled list of useful links here. Some of this material is compiled from other North Korea related threads. Normally i don't just copy paste but in this case i've added so much to other threads that I'm going to pull from all of those to build this up. Thank you, OP. Members please take the time to read through these as the information can shed light on just how serious a military campaign would be with the DPRK. I feel like I'm beating a dead horse here but it really can't be said enough.


Two of the most respected experts on North Korea, one of them retired CIA, Senior Advisor to the Director of National Intelligence and the Director of the National Counterproliferation Center and the Intelligence Community Mission Manager for North Korea, Joseph DeTrani; the other, Col David S Maxwell (ret) ( who also happens to be the former G3 and Chief of Staff of USASOC and Chief of Staff, SOCKOR) *SNIPPED BY ANONY*. Just because the DPRK doesn't have missiles tipped with warheads doesn't mean that they can't deliver a nuclear weapon through other means.

US Intelligence estimates suggest that North Korea has several tens (as in multiples of ten) fully capable and usable nuclear weapons. So where you get off saying that they don't have that capability is beyond me. They are the ninth nuclear power in the world, not some crap hole country in the middle east. They also have a formidable conventional army and a small airforce and a reserve force of over 6 million troops, trained and ready to be armed for battle. Add to that the fact that they have a highly skilled cyber-warfare division, small, but effective and you're talking about a nuclear capable, asynchronous fighting force ready to kill Americans, South Koreans, and Japanese. Nuclear Threat Initiative

More:

Start at 21:40 and watch for 5 minutes. Pay attention.

South Korea and Japan are obviously under the most immediate threat. The sources I've provided are reliable and clearly state that within 90 minutes the DPRK could cause hundreds of thousands of casualties in Seoul and cause significant damage to the city.

As for the missiles the question is not the missile technology, but the ability to attach a nuclear payload to one. The NK-08/Nk-14 variants could reach out and touch Chicago, and it's larger cousin the Taepodong-2 (an operational and tested ICBM platform) can reach anywhere in the US. For however psychotic and irrational he may be as a leader, Kim is not stupid. CSIS Missile Defense Project

95% of the people here are painfully unaware of just how far along and how serious an adversary the DPRK would be for the United States. The math is clear. We would eventually topple them to the ground if it came to a military campaign. The problem is that South Korea and our forces there would suffer massive, massive casualties to the tune of hundreds of thousands both civilian and military. Furthermore if Kim Jong-Un was feeling backed into a corner he might push the button and use the nuclear WMD's that they do have numbering in the multiple tens. Ten or twenty nukes going off around South Korea and Japan would be disastrous, totally altering the course of the planets future and potentially triggering an even more dire situation should the US decide to respond in kind.

There's no fear mongering about it. Nuclear weapons have always been the absolute scariest thing ever created. MAD is still a real thing, even though the Cold War era fear mongering propaganda is not.

Even more information is readily available regarding the Mutual Defense Agreement between North Korea and China There are some dynamic exchanges happening between the US, and China recently. EG This LA Times article does a good job of illustrating just how much leverage Beijing has when negotiating tought sanctions on the DPRK. Also Stratfor, a private group contracted for intelligence gathering and analysis has this to say: North Korea Assessment

In summary, any thoughts of this being an easy campaign for the US to steam roll through North Korea with minimal casualties should be dismissed right away. The DPRK poses a monstrous threat to the US troops stationed in Seoul and the civilians currently residing there. Weather an attack comes as a first strike from the North into South Korea or weather the attack comes first from the US and a response from the North hits Seoul it can not be understated... There will be a massive loss of life in South Korea no matter how it unfolds. Calmer heads are trying to encourage a diplomatic solution and this point can't be stressed upon enough. The military option should be the absolute last resort when it comes to North Korea.