THAAD Conducts Successful Intercept Flight Test In Alaska Against Musudan Equivalent Target

The big take away for Korea watchers from this successful flight test of the THAAD missile defense system is that the threat target was an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) which is the same class of missile as North Korea’s Musudan.  A THAAD battery was deployed to Guam back in 2013 to defend against the Musudan threat to Guam and this flight test validates its capability to defend against this threat:

The United States said on Tuesday it shot down a simulated, incoming intermediate-range ballistic missile similar the ones being developed by countries like North Korea, in a new test of the nation’s defences.

Planned months ago, the U.S. missile defence test over the Pacific Ocean has gained significance after North Korea’s July 4 launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile heightened concerns about the threat from Pyongyang.

The test was the first-ever of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system against an incoming IRBM, which experts say is a faster and more difficult target to hit than shorter-range missiles.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency said the IRBM was designed to behave similarly to the kinds of missiles that could threaten the United States.

“The successful demonstration of THAAD against an IRBM-range missile threat bolsters the country’s defensive capability against developing missile threats in North Korea and other countries,” the Missile Defense Agency said in a statement.   [Reuters]

You can read more at the link, but the THAAD system has now had 14 of 14 successful intercepts during flight tests.

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Knife Aquelee
7 years ago

Shut your lip, it seems nowadays everyone like to say what they did or doing. Lose lips sink ships.

MTB Rider
MTB Rider
7 years ago

“I have Fat Boy in sight. Do I take the shot?”
“Negative Ghost 1. Hold Fire.”
“Repeat HQ. I have the shot.”
“Hold fire, Ghost 1. Do not take the shot. Continue to observe.”
“Roger, HQ.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-us-didn-t-kill-kim-jong-un-icbm-test-july-4-2017-7

When North Korea launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile in the early-morning hours of July 4, US military and intelligence personnel watched leader Kim Jong Un smoke cigarettes and stroll around the launchpad for a full 70 minutes, a source told The Diplomat’s Ankit Panda.

The US knew North Korea was in the final stages of building an ICBM after a recent rocket-engine test. The US knew North Korea liked to test missiles on the American Independence Day to send a message. The US knew this missile was different from any it had seen before, and the US knew it could destroy it with a variety of precision-fire platforms in the region. Importantly, the US also had Kim in its crosshairs for over an hour — and did nothing.

Smoking Kills, Being Massively Overweight Kills. We had Fatty Kim, and let him walk. And we have the video to prove it.

Tread lightly, Fat Boy. Accidents have been known to happen. A blown tire just as you reach a curve in the road up in the mountains?

~Scoops Again

Flyingsword
Flyingsword
7 years ago

Silly South Koreans still don’t want it…

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