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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Wargame simulates North Korean missile launch on US |
| 2004-03-17 |
| Hat tip: Drudge. Edited for brevity. In a war game run here [Schriever AFB, CO] Tuesday, a country resembling North Korea launched six ballistic missiles at the United States and put to the test an antimissile system modeled after the one being developed by the Bush administration. "He resembled North Korea, but it dark and he was wearing a hat." The size of the salvo threatened to exhaust the U.S. arsenal of long-range interceptors, which was set at six in the game. When one of the interceptors missed, role players who were standing in for chains of authority stretching from the U.S. president to firing crews were confronted with the possibility that they might not have enough remaining interceptors to save both Anchorage and Boise, Idaho, and would have to choose one of them to protect. As things turned out, all the enemy missiles were destroyed in flight -- two were hit very early after launch by an airborne laser system -- and a Sophie’s choice was averted. You have the new high score! Please enter your initials: _ _ _ A missile fired from North Korea could reach the northwestern United States in 25 to 30 minutes. But detecting it and figuring out where it is headed, then computing a course for an interceptor, could require eight minutes or so, officials said. Only one U.S. interceptor was still available for firing. If the interceptors already airborne missed, U.S. authorities would have to choose between saving either Anchorage or Boise with the one that remained. Officials said that in real life, factors such as population size would weigh in such a decision. In this case, after the Anchorage-bound missile was hit, the remaining interceptor was fired for extra measure at the Boise missile, although that proved unnecessary. Save Alaska Paul! Besides, a Boise strike would take care of all those neo-Nazi camps. Many more details at story link--which is refreshingly free of my pithy comments. |
| Posted by:Dar |
| #9 So.....how's that Airborne Laser project doing? Better to knock 'em down as they are going up, than trying to hit them as they are coming down. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-3-17 10:22:38 PM |
| #8 One detonation would probably be more than enough. |
| Posted by: Tresho 2004-3-17 9:40:51 PM |
| #7 All this anti-missile defense would be of no use against a ship bomb, all Kim has to do is get one of his devices in a US-bound shipping container, to take out of of our ports. I think that's just a matter of time. It's more difficult than it sounds - everything coming out of North Korea is closely tracked. And ships move slowly - very slowly. With missiles, he can launch a simultaneous attack on multiple targets involving dozens of missiles. Hard to synchronize all that with ships - after the first detonation, you'd get a complete lockdown in all ports, as occurred with airports after 9/11. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-3-17 8:46:03 PM |
| #6 All this anti-missile defense would be of no use against a ship bomb, all Kim has to do is get one of his devices in a US-bound shipping container, to take out of of our ports. I think that's just a matter of time. |
| Posted by: Tresho 2004-3-17 7:34:34 PM |
| #5 "Sir! They've targeted San Francisco! Should we fire?" "Sir?" "Sir?" |
| Posted by: BH 2004-3-17 2:12:45 PM |
| #4 hope they get this ABM gear in place as soon as possible. need to keep 3 or 4 Ohio subs lurking off kimmies coast line in case he does the stupid thing and kick off. |
| Posted by: Jon Shep U.K 2004-3-17 1:59:08 PM |
| #3 More from WaPo: In the scenario prepared for the journalists, a fictitious nation of Midland, in the Sea of Japan and angry at the United States, fired all six of its missiles. The tensest moment came when two interceptors were in the air against two remaining missiles -- one headed toward Boise, the other toward Anchorage. Midland? The Chinese name for itself, zhongguo, stands for Central Country (usually translated as Middle Kingdom). I bet the name selected wasn't entirely random. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-3-17 1:49:20 PM |
| #2 A missile fired from North Korea could reach the northwestern United States in 25 to 30 minutes. A retaiatory strike from our boomers in the S. China sea would reach Pyongyang in about 10 minutes. The ROK and the PRC then go absolutely apeshit, for different reasons. Japan looks nervous. Which way is the wind blowing? |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-3-17 1:45:04 PM |
| #1 Population size, voting trends..... Hmmmmm. What if it was a choice between Anchorage and Seattle... now wouldn't that be a fun choice. If I were a Donk I'd be voting for many, many more inteceptors. :) |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-3-17 1:24:05 PM |