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China-Japan-Koreas
Interceptors were ready for NKor missile
2006-07-06
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States placed its interceptor missiles in Alaska and California on alert for the long-range North Korean missile that failed less than a minute after being launched, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

The launch of Pyongyang's intercontinental Taepodong 2 missile, and at least five shorter-range missiles, marked the first time the fledgling U.S. anti-missile shield has been officially reported to have been primed in response to a specific event. The U.S. Northern Command, which operates the interceptors in Alaska and California as part of its homeland defense mission, said it was "able to determine quickly the missiles posed no threat to (the) United States or its territories."
"We're waiting, little man."
The Northern Command said its personnel detected the launches immediately after North Korea's first series of test-firings. Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters, "What I will tell you is that each and every launch was detected and monitored and that the interceptors were operational during the missile launches that took place."

The shield, while still being tested, has been made "operational" many times since the end of 2004 but is never known to have been activated in response to a perceived threat. In the case of the Taepodong 2, which fell harmlessly into the Sea of Japan about 40 seconds after launch, there was "far too little time to make a decision on whether to shoot it down," said Victoria Samson, an expert on missile defense at the private Center for Defense Information.
Posted by:Steve White

#14  Apparently the DingDong2 was out of control as soon as it cleared the tower. They've been trying to develop vectored thrust control and maybe haven't got the hang of it quite yet. It was veering so far off a "normal" trajectory that we couldn't even compute probable path. I doubt we would have intercepted unless we felt certain it was weaponized or we thought it would hit Japan. It would be to our advantage to see what their current capabilities are. Remember, this thing will be going to Iran, who funded it's development. We need to know as much about flight parameters as possible.
Posted by: SOP35/Rat   2006-07-06 19:00  

#13  "Failure to Launch" was on Kimmie's Netflex wish list, too, daggammit.
Posted by: Capsu78   2006-07-06 16:27  

#12  What makes you guys so sure we didn't shoot it down?

Ahem.
Posted by: Bobby   2006-07-06 15:00  

#11  Down to the battery or ship? On a ship that would be a Captain. Is it a Colonel in the Army or Air Force?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-07-06 14:05  

#10  Nimble, ever heard of release to local battery? Especially for boost-phase elements in a high threat environment. You're wrong on this.

NMD has had a longer lead time and has figured this one out, unlike those CYA desk-bound morons that wanted a lawyer and signed PDD every time they dumped on a hival target.

Remeber, this is a NCA that delegates, and so does Rummy's military.
Posted by: Oldspook   2006-07-06 13:51  

#9  While they may be able to resolve the trajectory in less than a minute, can they traverse the chain of command to get approval to shoot? Given that it can take a half hour to get approval to off al-Q high value targets, I'm not optomistic. And this was a shot we'd been waiting a week for. What if they try not to telegraph the punch next time?

I think we were lucky it blew apart this time. Next time, we'll be very ready, including the Japanese. That's Kimmie's real problem now.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-07-06 13:26  

#8  Vader, don't you know? They have Nodong.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins   2006-07-06 13:25  

#7   The U.S. Northern Command, which operates the interceptors in Alaska and California as part of its homeland defense mission, said it was "able to determine quickly the missiles posed no threat to (the) United States or its territories."

If they were able to determine threat/no threat within 40 seconds post-ignition, a shoot-down decision should have followed on immediately. Actually, I assume the decision tree was determined shortly after fuelling began, and the decision was made around Second 60. Of course, I'm not an expert on missile defense at the private Center for Defense Information, so my assumptions are worth what you just didn't pay for them. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-07-06 13:03  

#6  Their "experts" are only experts in making Bush and the US look bad.
Posted by: DarthVader   2006-07-06 12:31  

#5  , there was "far too little time to make a decision on whether to shoot it down, said Victoria Samson, an expert on missile defense at the private Center for Defense Information."

Some expert. Wrong. I can't say why, but if you think it through and think of the flight phases and the defenses available at each phase, and the reaction time for each phase - you'll see how simple the solution is and how wrong their "expert" is.

Posted by: Oldspook   2006-07-06 12:24  

#4  We ought to use MK's missile tests as a means of testing our anti-missile defenses. They shoot them off and we try to shoot it down.

Seems that if they fire a missile over international waters it ought to be fair game.
Posted by: DoDo   2006-07-06 11:23  

#3  Poor Kimmie. He can't keep his Dong from blowing early.
Posted by: DarthVader   2006-07-06 09:49  

#2  Didn't see anything wid the local Guard and Reserves, but the USAF had two heavily armed F-15's flying non-stop around the island - wouldn't surprise me one bit iff the birds were armed wid air-launched BMD missles.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2006-07-06 02:58  

#1  Put Mad Halfbright and Wendy Sherman into the nose of the ABM before firing
Posted by: Captain America   2006-07-06 00:40  

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