The prophecy is more than seeing into the future. For the prophecy sees without the element of time. For the prophecy sees things as they were, as they are, and as they always shall be.
A
missile is carried by a military vehicle during a parade to commemorate
the 60th anniversary of the signing of a truce in the 1950-1953 Korean
War, at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang July 27, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Lee
(NORTH KOREA – Tags: POLITICS MILITARY ANNIVERSARY) – RTX120S3
North Korea has developed nuclear-capable missiles capable of hitting the US
By Jeremy Bender November 2, 2015 5:14 PM
North Korea now has a range of ballistic missiles that are
thought to be capable of hitting both the US mainland and American
interests throughout the Pacific, The Heritage Foundation reports
in its 2016 Index of US Military Strength.The annual report examines
the strength of the US military, and also takes into account potential
rising threats to the US and its allies from across the world. According
to Heritage, the threat from the nuclear-armed, anti-American
authoritarian state will only get more complicated in 2016.Pyongyang’s
has continued to develop of a range of ballistic missiles, at the same
time the regime pushes to create miniaturized nuclear warheads that can
be placed atop those missiles. If constructed, these warheads would
allow Pyongyang to hypothetically launch long-range nuclear strikes, as
this graphic from Heritage demonstrates:
.
(The Heritage Foundation: 2016 Index of U.S. Military Strength) “North Korea has an extensive ballistic missile force that could strike South Korea, Japan, and US military bases in Asia,” the report states.
“Pyongyang has deployed at least 400 Scud short-range tactical
ballistic missiles, 300 No-Dong medium-range missiles, and 100 to 200
Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles.”The longest-range
missile, the Taepo Dong 2, is still in development. However, if
deployed, the missile is believed to be nuclear capable if North Korea
ever succeeded in miniaturizing nuclear warheads.
The most serious of North Korea’s missile threats comes from the country’s KN-08 missile. The
KN-08 is a road-mobile intercontinental missile, meaning Pyongyang can
move the launch system throughout the country. In contrast, other
long-range missiles must be fired from stationary launch pads.
Heritage notes
that Gortney also said in April 2015 that the KN-08 “is operational
today. Our assessment is that they have the ability to put a nuclear
weapon on a KN-08 and shoot it at the homeland.”
A missile is carried by a military vehicle
during a parade to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of a
truce in the 1950-1953 Korean War, at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang
July 27, 2013.
In an article for Johns Hopkins University’s 38 North, North Korea experts John Schilling and Henry Kan estimate
that the KN-08 would have a maximum range of 5,600 miles, making the
missile capable of hitting the West Coast of the continental US.
The weapon, however, is unlikely to have the accuracy required for precision targeting on large US cities. And although
the Pyongyang may soon develop the capability needed to launch missiles
towards the US, it’s still possible that it wouldn’t be able to evade
existing US missile defenses.
“Should [a missile] get airborne and come at us, I’m confident we would be able to knock it down,” Gortney told reporters.
“We assess that they have the capability to reach the homeland with a
nuclear weapon from a rocket,” Gortney told an event on Wednesday
hosted by the Atlantic Council think tank.
Gortney said it was very difficult to predict the behavior of North
Korean leader Kim Jong-un but the US military was prepared to respond if
he were to use a nuclear weapon.
“We’re ready for him, and we’re ready 24 hours a day if he should be dumb enough to shoot something at us,” Gortney said.
“I’m pretty confident that we’re going to knock down the numbers that are going to be shot.”
North Korea’s space agency said last month Pyongyang was building a
new satellite and readying it for launch, with any use of a long-range
rocket suggesting that the secretive state has made advances developing a
ballistic missile.
North Korea says its rocket launches are part of a legitimate space
programme aimed at putting satellites into orbit. It has in the past
conducted missile tests in defiance of international warnings and
sanctions.
The US Missile Defense Agency said in March North Korea could achieve
the ability to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile this year.
On Wednesday, Gortney said the US military was investing to modernise
its current missile defence system, add new sensors and radars to
better identify potential missile launches, and drive down the cost of
defending against such attacks.
He warned that the failure of the US Congress to pass a budget for
fiscal year 2016, or a resumption of mandatory budget cuts, could
jeopardise the funding needed for such efforts.
Pentagon Says Chinese Sub That Can Hit U.S. to Go on Patrol Soon
Anthony Capaccio David Tweed
First Jin-class sub to deploy by year’s end, U.S. Says
JL-2 missile could hit all 50 U.S. states from east of Hawaii
A new Chinese nuclear submarine designed to carry missiles that can
hit the U.S. will likely deploy before year’s end, the Pentagon said,
adding to Obama administration concerns over China’s muscle-flexing in
Asia.
“The capability to maintain continuous deterrent patrols is a big
milestone for a nuclear power,” Larry Wortzel, a member of the
congressionally created U.S.-China Economic and Security Review
Commission, said in an e-mail. “I think the Chinese would announce this
capability as a show of strength and for prestige.”
The submarines are part of an effort to modernize China’s military
under President Xi Jinping, who will be in Washington Thursday and
Friday for a state visit with U.S. President Barack Obama. U.S.-China
defense cooperation and competition will be among the topics discussed
by the two leaders. The Pentagon and DIA had previously predicted the
patrols would start last year.
‘Threat Inflation’
“Don’t discount the likelihood of threat inflation by the Pentagon
because of the shift toward the Asia-Pacific in the revised maritime
strategy,” said Collin Koh Swee Lean, an associate research fellow at
the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
China set out its ambitions for a bigger naval presence far from its
coasts in its 2015 defense white paper released in May this year, saying
it would add “open seas protection” to “offshore waters defense” to a
list of core naval missions.
Wortzel said his commission’s 2015 report probably will include a
comment from PLA Navy Commander Admiral Wu Shengli, who said the
submarine-missile combination is “a tru
mp card that makes our motherland
proud and our adversaries terrified.”
China’s increased naval might, as well as its assertion to territory
in the contested South China Sea and East China Sea, has helped spur the
region’s largest military buildup in decades and caused disquiet in the
U.S. about its role as the region’s peace keeper.
Missile Range
“The United States is a Pacific power,” U.S. National Security
Adviser Susan Rice said in a speech on Sept. 21. “We’ve been the
guarantor of stability in the region for the past 70 years. President
Obama has made it clear that we have vital interests in Asia and the
Pacific, and a good part of our foreign policy has been focused on our
rebalance to Asia.”
China currently has at least four Jin-class submarines.
Fifty-one years after the country carried out its first nuclear test,
patrols by the new submarines will give Xi greater agility to respond to
a nuclear attack, according to analysts.
“The chances of getting a submarine east of Hawaii at a time when
tensions are high, would be relatively low,” said Felix Chang, a senior
fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia. “But
it’s not a possibility you can completely discount.”
Xi earlier this month announced plans to cut 300,000 troops and vowed
never to seek “hegemony or expansion.” While the move represents the
largest cut to the People’s Liberation Army in almost two decades, it
may only accelerate the arms buildup in the Asia-Pacific region.
The move will speed the PLA’s transition from a large, land-based
army built over decades of invasions, civil war and border conflicts to a
modern, mechanized force able to defend China’s territorial integrity
and growing interests abroad.
“The more modern their weapons, the fewer personnel needed,” said June
Teufel Dreyer, a University of Miami political science professor, who
served as a commissioner on the United States-China Economic and
Security Review Commission. “Less money spent on personnel means more
money for airplanes, submarines, frigates, missiles.”
Still Testing
The JL-2 “has nearly three times the range” of China’s current
sea-launched ballistic missile “which was only able to range targets in
the immediate vicinity of China,” the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence
said in an April report on China’s Navy. The JL-2 “underwent successful
testing in 2012 and is likely ready to enter the force,” it said. “Once deployed it will provide China with a capability to strike targets” in the continental U.S., it said.
Koh said reports indicate the PLA may still be conducting JL-2 tests.
“If the missiles aren’t operational yet, there is no reason to send
them out on patrol,” he said.
There is speculation that China is developing a new 096 Tang class
nuclear-powered submarine that may be able to carry as many as 24
ballistic missiles, twice as many as the Jin-class 094 submarines, Koh
said.
“So the most likely scenario is that the JL-2 is likely to be in the
final stages of testing, and has been deemed successful, otherwise they
wouldn’t be going ahead with the development of the 096,” said Koh.
The Shaheen-III missile has a maximum range of up to 1,700 miles, according to members of the Pakistani military.
Depending upon the missile’s placement, Pakistan would be capable of
carrying out a nuclear strike from Israel in the West to Kazakhstan in
the north and Burma in the east.
The following map shows the missile’s ultimate range were it to be placed in the west of Pakistan.
Although the missile would allow Pakistan to target the entirety of
the Middle East and Central Asia, the missile’s primary target would be
Islamabad’s archrival: India.
“Now, India doesn’t have its safe havens anymore,”
Shahid Latif, a former commander of the Pakistani air force, told the
Post. “It’s all a reaction to India, which has now gone even for tests
of extra-regional missiles … It sends a loud message: If you hurt us, we
are going to hurt you back.”
The test comes a week after Pakistan and India held their first
high-level talks in almost a year, the AFP reports. The development of
the Shaheen-III is intended as a “credible deterrence” against any
possible Indian aggression towards the country.
To compensate, Pakistan has invested heavily in its nuclear
deterrant. Although both countries have nuclear weapons, India has
strict policies against the first use of the nuclear weapons. Pakistan
does not share this stance, as the Post explains.
The Council on Foreign Relations estimated that there was a low
chance of a war between India and Pakistan in 2015. However, if such a
war were to take place it could conceivably involve the use of nuclear
weapons from both sides. The two countries have had a shaky ceasefire in
place since 2003, although they exchanged artillery shelling in October
2014.
The Shaheen-III missile has a maximum range of up to 1,700 miles, according to members of the Pakistani military.
Depending upon the missile’s placement, Pakistan would be capable of
carrying out a nuclear strike from Israel in the West to Kazakhstan in
the north and Burma in the east.
The following map shows the missile’s ultimate range were it to be placed in the west of Pakistan.
Although the missile would allow Pakistan to target the entirety of
the Middle East and Central Asia, the missile’s primary target would be
Islamabad’s archrival: India.
“Now, India doesn’t have its safe havens anymore,”
Shahid Latif, a former commander of the Pakistani air force, told the
Post. “It’s all a reaction to India, which has now gone even for tests
of extra-regional missiles … It sends a loud message: If you hurt us, we
are going to hurt you back.”
The test comes a week after Pakistan and India held their first
high-level talks in almost a year, the AFP reports. The development of
the Shaheen-III is intended as a “credible deterrence” against any
possible Indian aggression towards the country.
To compensate, Pakistan has invested heavily in its nuclear
deterrant. Although both countries have nuclear weapons, India has
strict policies against the first use of the nuclear weapons. Pakistan
does not share this stance, as the Post explains.
The Council on Foreign Relations estimated that there was a low
chance of a war between India and Pakistan in 2015. However, if such a
war were to take place it could conceivably involve the use of nuclear
weapons from both sides. The two countries have had a shaky ceasefire in
place since 2003, although they exchanged artillery shelling in October
2014.
