Post by DavidH on Mar 6, 2017 14:53:47 GMT
Did North Korea just test missiles capable of hitting the U.S.?
North Korea conducted two missile tests earlier this month, on Oct. 9 and 19. Both took place at an air base in Kusong on North Korea’s west coast, on the other side of the country from the usual Musudan test site near Wonsan, on the east coast.
“We think it is important that people consider the possibility that this was a KN-08 test,” said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia nonproliferation program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in California.
The United States Strategic Command said Wednesday that both tests are “presumed” to be of Musudan missiles, and South Korean military officials have said the same. The Musudan is technically capable of flying as far as 2,400 miles, putting Guam within range and almost reaching Alaska.
These would mark the seventh and eighth Musudan tests this year. Only one, in June, was a success, flying about 250 miles and reaching a surprisingly high altitude.
But after poring over satellite photos enhanced with a near infrared band of light, Lewis and his fellow experts at MIIS think there’s an even chance that the launches were of ICBMs.
“We’re not fully persuaded that it was a Musudan,” Lewis said, noting that Strategic Command, known as StratCom, twice misidentified three missiles that North Korea launched in September.
Other analysts said it is possible, if not probable, that the tests were of ICBMs.
“While this was most likely a Musudan test, the possibility of a KN-08 cannot be ruled out,” said John Schilling, an aerospace engineer who frequently writes about the North’s missiles.
Continues-
www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/did-north-korea-just-test-missiles-capable-of-hitting-the-us-maybe/2016/10/26/984e8a21-e6a7-4689-81e0-21d7d25c302f_story.html?utm_term=.028a66f0f400
North Korea conducted two missile tests earlier this month, on Oct. 9 and 19. Both took place at an air base in Kusong on North Korea’s west coast, on the other side of the country from the usual Musudan test site near Wonsan, on the east coast.
“We think it is important that people consider the possibility that this was a KN-08 test,” said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia nonproliferation program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in California.
The United States Strategic Command said Wednesday that both tests are “presumed” to be of Musudan missiles, and South Korean military officials have said the same. The Musudan is technically capable of flying as far as 2,400 miles, putting Guam within range and almost reaching Alaska.
These would mark the seventh and eighth Musudan tests this year. Only one, in June, was a success, flying about 250 miles and reaching a surprisingly high altitude.
But after poring over satellite photos enhanced with a near infrared band of light, Lewis and his fellow experts at MIIS think there’s an even chance that the launches were of ICBMs.
“We’re not fully persuaded that it was a Musudan,” Lewis said, noting that Strategic Command, known as StratCom, twice misidentified three missiles that North Korea launched in September.
Other analysts said it is possible, if not probable, that the tests were of ICBMs.
“While this was most likely a Musudan test, the possibility of a KN-08 cannot be ruled out,” said John Schilling, an aerospace engineer who frequently writes about the North’s missiles.
Continues-
www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/did-north-korea-just-test-missiles-capable-of-hitting-the-us-maybe/2016/10/26/984e8a21-e6a7-4689-81e0-21d7d25c302f_story.html?utm_term=.028a66f0f400