North Korean Ballistic Missiles Can Now Hit Anywhere In The U.S., New Military Report Confirms

[jpak]

https://www.newsweek.com/north-korean-ballistic-missiles-hit-anywhere-u-s-military-report-confirms-us-forces-korea-1448907

The U.S. military has acknowledged that North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles can now hit targets anywhere in the continental U.S., confirming fears raised by weapons tests conducted in 2017.

U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) released its 2019 Strategic Digest on Thursday, detailing the current state of play for American troops on the Korean peninsula. As part of its summary, the digest listed North Korea's current ICBM arsenal, confirming that the largest weapon—the Hwasong-15—can hit anywhere in the continental U.S.

The Hwasong-15 had its first and only launch in November 2017. The USFK said the missile has a range of up to 8,000 miles, making it "capable of striking any part of the continental United States," the digest warned.

According to The Chosun Ilbo newspaper, an unnamed military source said the USFK conclusion is based on "comprehensive analysis of intelligence data collected from satellite, aircraft and radar surveillance of missile launches."

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[spanone]

1. 'art of the deal' anyone?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. No shit.

[nycbos]

3. Reminds me of this flashback.

https://www.theonion.com/n-korea-wondering-what-it-has-to-do-to-attract-u-s-mi-1819566737

[Brainfodder]

4. Note to self, investigate US capabilities for shooting down NK rockets.

That is a thing still?

[jpak]

5. Unfortunately - it is not

Pentagon Halts Work on Redesigned Kill Vehicle

https://dsm.forecastinternational.com/wordpress/2019/05/29/pentagon-halts-work-on-redesigned-kill-vehicle/

The U.S. Department of Defense has issued a stop-work order to Boeing on the Redesigned Kill Vehicle, a program aimed at improving U.S. ballistic missile defense capabilities by replacing the exoatmospheric kill vehicle used on Ground-Based Interceptors. The move is the result of significant technical difficulties.

Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Michael Griffin has called for a new analysis of alternatives for modernizing the GBI warheads. A timeline for the review has not been released.

The FY20 budget had delayed by two years a Critical Design Review of the RKV originally planned for 2018. The first flight was planned for FY22, with the first intercept test in FY23.

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[Brainfodder]

7. That's it?

Remind the good people how much we have been spending on defense?

[MineralMan]

6. Well, we can shoot down a ballistic missile in a well-controlled test.

Sometimes. Doing that in the case of an unannounced missile firing from an unknown exactly location and with an unknown target is something we can't actually do.

We do not have a global system capable of such a thing. Not in any way. Nor are we likely to have such a system anytime soon. It would be prohibitively expensive and complex.

So, no, we don't have such a capability.

[Sneederbunk]

8. Wow! If there is a lovers quarrel, it could get nasty.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

9. But Trumpy and Kim are in love

[Applegate]

10. North Korea is a nuclear power. The US probably needs to just accept that.

Kim will not allow himself to follow Ghaddafi's path. He saw where that led.

[sinkingfeeling]

11. But IQ45 said the nuclear threat from N. Korea was over.