2024 RT Amination Banner.gif

China Daily

News> World> Content
Wednesday, July 12, 2017, 11:03
US THAAD missile defenses hit test target as DPRK tension rises
By Reuters
Wednesday, July 12, 2017, 11:03 By Reuters

This handout photo taken on Nov 1, 2015 and received by the US Department of Defense/Missile Defense Agency shows a terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor being launched from a THAAD battery located on Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean, during the Flight Test Operational (FTO)-02 Event 2a. (Ben Listerman / DoD / AFP)

WASHINGTON - The United States said on Tuesday it shot down a simulated, incoming intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) similar to the ones being developed by countries like the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), in a new test of the nation's THAAD missile defenses.

Planned months ago, the US missile defense test over the Pacific Ocean has gained significance after DPRK's July 4 launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) heightened concerns about the threat from Pyongyang.

The test was the first-ever of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system against an incoming IRBM, which experts say is a faster and more difficult target to hit than shorter-range missiles.

The US Missile Defense Agency said the IRBM was designed to behave similarly to the kinds of missiles that could threaten the United States.

"The successful demonstration of THAAD against an IRBM-range missile threat bolsters the country's defensive capability against developing missile threats in the DPRK and other countries," the Missile Defense Agency said in a statement.

The successful THAAD test adds to the credibility of the US military's missile defense program, which has come under intense scrutiny in recent years, including because of test delays and failures.

The US Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog, noted in a May report that the Missile Defense Agency had not previously tested THAAD against an IRBM, despite having deployed the system to the island of Guam, a US territory in the Pacific, in 2013 amid concerns about DPRK's missile program.

That means that, until the latest test, the THAAD system had an unproven capability against IRBMs, missiles that have a range of between 3,000 to 5,500 km. Guam is approximately 3,400 km from the DPRK.

In order to hit the mainland United States, the DPRK would need to fire an ICBM, which is defined as a missile with a range greater than 5,500 km.

100 PERCENT TRACK RECORD

In the latest test, a THAAD in Kodiak, Alaska, intercepted a ballistic missile target that was air-launched from a C-17 aircraft flying north of Hawaii, the Missile Defense Agency said in a statement. A defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the test took place early on Tuesday.

This success leaves THAAD with a 100 percent track record for all 14 intercept attempts since flight testing began just over a decade ago.

Lockheed Martin Corp, the prime contractor for the THAAD system, said it could intercept incoming missiles both inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere.

The United States deployed THAAD to the Republic of Korea (ROK) this year to guard against DPRK's shorter-range missiles. That has drawn strong opposition from China, which says the system's powerful radar can probe deep into its territory.

Earlier this month Moscow and Beijing, in a joint statement, called on Washington to immediately halt deployment of THAAD in the ROK.

According to the statement, Washington was using the DPRK as a pretext to expand its military infrastructure in Asia and risked upsetting the strategic balance of power in the region.

This picture taken on July 4, 2017 and released by DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on July 5, 2017 shows the successful test-fire of the intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 at an undisclosed location. (STR / KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)

THAAD's success rate in testing is far higher than the one for America's Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, which is designed to shoot down an ICBM headed for the US mainland.

That GMD system has only a 55 percent success rate over the life of the program, stoking fierce criticism from groups including the Union of Concerned Scientists, a non-profit science advocacy group.

But advocates say the technology has improved dramatically in recent years. The GMD system successfully shot down an incoming, simulated DPRK's  ICBM in a test in May.

That led the Pentagon to upgrade its assessment of the United States' ability to defend against a small number of ICBMs, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

A ground-based missile defense system, THAAD is designed to shoot down short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles.

John Schilling, a contributor to 38 North, a Washington-based DPRK's monitoring project, downplayed the idea that THAAD might be seen as a backup to hit a longer range ICBM, saying that THAAD was not designed to hit missiles traveling so fast.

"To engage an ICBM with THAAD would be like asking a high school baseball player to hit a fastball from a major-league pitcher - literally out of his league," Schilling said.

The Missile Defense Agency told Congress in June that it planned to deliver 52 more THAAD interceptors to the US Army between October 2017 and September 2018, bringing total deliveries to 210 since May 2011.


Share this story

CHINA DAILY
HONG KONG NEWS
OPEN
Please click in the upper right corner to open it in your browser !