US conducts successful missile intercept system amid N Korea test launch

The US military has conducted a successful test of a missile intercept system, officials said today, as tensions soar following North Korea's test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile that could potentially reach Alaska.

The test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system saw a ballistic missile target air-launched from an Air Force C-17 over the Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii.

"A THAAD weapon system located at (Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska) in Kodiak, Alaska, detected, tracked and intercepted the target," the US Missile Defense Agency said in a statement.

THAAD is designed to intercept and destroy short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles during their final phase of flight.

Though such exercises are planned months in advance, it comes after North Korea's first-ever test-firing last week of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching parts of the United States including Alaska.

THAAD is not designed to stop an ICBM -- that job is left primarily to the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptor system.

The US military this year began deploying THAAD to South Korea, a move that infuriated China, which has argued the deployment would further destabilize the situation on the Korean peninsula.

This was the 14th successful intercept in 14 attempts for the THAAD weapon system, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said.
READ MORE

'Grave threat to global peace': India on N Korea proliferation

The government today reacted strongly to the nuclear and ballistic missile programmes of North Korea, saying its proliferation links pose a grave threat to international peace and stability as have also adversely impacted India's national security.

India also called upon DPRK to refrain from such actions that undermine international peace and stability, an external affairs ministry release said here.

"DPRK's continued pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and its proliferation links pose a grave threat to international peace and stability. They have also adversely impacted India's national security," it said.

The release further said that "We also urge the international community to work together to hold accountable all those parties that have supported these programmes."

The Indian reaction came after North Korea took a major step forward in its missile program after test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) earlier this week.
READ MORE

US tells North Korea it is prepared to go to war

The U.S. warned North Korea that it is ready to fight if provoked, as Pyongyang claimed another weapons-development breakthrough following its launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile a day earlier.

The regime, having demonstrated its capacity to reach the U.S. with a missile, on Wednesday touted another achievement of the test launch: It claimed that its missile warhead—the forward section, which carries the explosive—can withstand the extreme heat and pressure of re-entering the earth’s atmosphere.

If true—the claim couldn’t be independently verified—that would clear another hurdle in developing a nuclear-tipped missile that can reach American cities.

As tensions between Washington and Pyongyang rose, Gen. Vincent Brooks, the top American military commander in South Korea, said in a statement Wednesday that the U.S. and South Korea are prepared to go to war with the North if given the order.

“Self restraint, which is a choice, is all that separates armistice and war,” Gen. Brooks said. “We are able to change our choice when so ordered.…It would be a grave mistake for anyone to believe anything to the contrary.”

Earlier in the day, allied armies conducted a rare live-fire drill, launching tactical surface-to-surface missiles off the east coast of Korea—an action they said was aimed directly at “countering North Korea’s destabilizing and unlawful actions on July 4.”

The drill and tough language appeared meant to reassure Seoul after North Korea’s successful ICBM test, a significant advance.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson described the development as an escalation of the threat to the U.S. It came despite years of sanctions and warnings aimed at preventing Kim Jong Un’s regime from reaching the milestone.
READ MORE