Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
North Korea’s Latest Missile Test Sets Off Alarm Bells
North Korea tested a missile early Sunday, local time. But unlike so many that have failed shortly after launch or fell harmlessly into the Sea of Japan, this launch is raising alarm bells. Many experts fear the weapon could have a much longer range than other NoKo missiles.
According to reports out of Japan, today’s missile traveled 700 km (430 miles), which isn’t terribly troubling. But it flew for about 30 minutes — a much longer time than would be required using a standard trajectory. Japan also claimed that North Korea fired the missile to a height of 2000 km (1,240 miles), represented by the black line in the graph above.
This means if the missile was fired with a standard trajectory, it would reach a range of 4,500 km (2,800 miles), shown with a red line. That’s a game changer, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, which created the graph.
Published in Foreign Policy, MilitaryThis range is considerably longer than the estimated range of the Musudan missile, which showed a range of about 3,000 km in a test last year. Guam is 3,400 km from North Korea. Reaching the US West Coast would require a missile with a range of more than 8,000 km. Hawaii is roughly 7,000 km from North Korea.
This missile may have been the new mobile missile seen in North Korea’s April 15 parade. It appears to be a two-stage liquid-fueled missile.
Every time we do this, we should pull all our troops back from the DMZ and turn on the RF BARF Guns. (Broad Application, Radio Frequency)
IF they hid the launcher on a container ship, a boat in the middle of the ocean – far from any legal jurisdiction to search/seize could launch a surprise attack on either or both coasts.
I am always the cheerful one.
A mobile system? I wonder if one would fit into, say, a standard cargo container. Load it up, sail out into the Pacific. Firing like that with precision would be difficult. It would not, however, be impossible. And if your plan was to go for an EMP burst then precision matters a whole lot less.
Thinking the same thing I was. Ain’t we a pair?
Swell.
Someone could make a movie … Missile launcher in a container at sea … Secret agents try to stop it… blah blah … running gun battle/kung fu fist fight on top of the container stack on a ship at sea… blah blah ship explodes…
You left out the beautiful Korean fifth columnist.
How much stuff does NK export that mixes in with container ships? They produce nothing. A launcher isn’t going to fit into a container.
They have declared their hostile intentions over and over; presume malevolent intent based on their government’s statements. They send a vessel east? Board, investigate, sink. When they squawk, make them prove it happened. Rinse. Repeat.
And yet if containers go in, containers will come out again. The Pukguksong-2 uses solid rocket fuel, which is handy because liquid rocket fuel is tougher to handle and requires more support equipment to fuel the missile just before use.
The missile plus its wheeled or tracked launch vehicle wouldn’t fit in a container, but the missile and just enough hardware to shoot it off might.
I’m just spitballing here.
Where’s the neutron bomb when you need it?
They build a carrier, load it up with copies of B-25s, Find a plucky little guy named Doolittle and….. Oh wait, that’s been done.
Like the Club K? The Russians have been trying to sell one for years but fortunately, no one has bought one yet, that we know of. Just adding to the cheeriness
Dude, they put KONG on a boat and he laid waste to Manhattan! You really need to start re-thinking your geo-strategic priorities. And how many hyphenated words you choose use in your sentence-structure.
Look at the upside. Let’s say North Korea makes a nuclear strike against the US.
At most they would have a dozen missiles. Half would misfire. Probably a third of the warheads would fail to detonate. We would lose four cities.
What four? Take your choice of Honolulu, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles*. The way I see it a strike like that would turn four blue states red.
* Yes, there is also Anchorage, but NoKo would probably forget about it or just figure no one in the US would miss it, anyway.
Seawriter
And make NK glow in the dark.
Well . . . yeah. Didn’t think I needed to mention that.
Seawriter
Its the first draft… The romantic interests and comedy are covered by the blah blah … Lets face it – when we go see an action thriller movie, most of the dialogue could be phoned in by Charlie Brown’s teacher.
They need the help. Have you seen those night-time satellite pictures?
I’m not sure, but I suspect launching from a container ship adds complexity to the endeavor.
I’m thinking that was be enough of an anomaly that we’d pick up on it pretty quickly given that we are likely watching anything coming into and out of North Korean ports pretty closely. I’m assuming this is one of the primary missions of the United States Navy in regards to that area. They have a robust tool set given what we have for submarines and patrol aircraft. Throw in the United States Air Force’s abilities in this area (space and air intelligence gathering) and whatever kung-fu the NSA/CIA is throwing down for signals and human intelligence and you’d hope we have something like this covered.
The timing of the test was interesting. I believe it came after the new President of South Korea was saying that he would like a better relationship with North Korea. That’s rather like a group of women saying they would like a better relationship with Ted Bundy.
There is a new president in south Korea. The natural North Korean response would be a missile launch to set the stage for potential future negotiations (or just to get the attention of the president).
Without some kind of dramatic change in north-south relations at Some point open conflict seems to be inevitable.
Maybe we should put the Navy on border patrol. How deep is the Rio Grande again?
If it’s navigable, doesn’t that make it a Coast Guard bailiwick?
Looks like a job for Team America: World Police!
Not much more than launching from a mobile land transporter.
That’s why I’m worried about EMP. Aim for Needles … hit Elko … no big deal. A vast part of the country gets to relive the 18th century. No electricity, therefore no pumped water and no refrigeration and no gas pumps. Most if not all electronic devices destroyed. No phones, no radio, no internet … for the back-to-basics types it will be a real party, until the food runs out.
I am not a rocket scientist by any means but some seems wrong about the distance in altitude that this rocket traveled. It would be well out of the atmosphere at ten miles high let alone 1200 miles. It would then need to re- enter without burning up. This IMHO beyond NK capabilities. Where is anonymous when you need him?
I don’t expect President Trump to do anything. But if he’s not the one to obliterate the Nork government, then it’s a fair bet that no president ever will.
Gotta head to Costco and re-stock the emergency canned goods. Dust off those pepper food-storage books. Move the firewood into the garage so no one can steal it. Got the water bob for the bathtub, but that won’t last long. Is it possible to purify Chicago river water? Hmmm.
More importantly, must learn to shoot.
There isn’t a lot of water in Chicago River water.