North Korea Launches Ballistic Missile, South Korean Military Says

NBC news ^ | 5/13/17 | PHIL HELSEL, COURTNEY KUBE and STELLA KIM

[Mears]

We sold fuel to Japan before the war started.

[TigerLikesRooster]

North Korea’s Missile in New Test Would Have 4,500 km Range
...

A 30-minute flight time instead require a missile that was highly lofted, reaching an apogee of about 2,000 km (1,240 miles) while splashing down at a range of 700 km. If that same missile was flown on a standard trajectory, it would have a maximum range of about 4,500 km (2,800 km).

[TigerLikesRooster]

North Korea’s Missile in New Test Would Have 4,500 km Range

DAVID WRIGHT, CO-DIRECTOR AND SENIOR SCIENTIST | MAY 13, 2017, 9:09 PM EDT

North Korea launched a missile in a test early in the morning of May 14, North Korean time. If the information that has been reported about the test are correct, the missile has considerably longer range than its current missiles.

Reports from Japan say that the missile fell into the Sea of Japan after traveling about 700 km (430 miles), after flying for about 30 minutes.

A missile with a range of 1,000 km (620 miles), such as the extended-range Scud, or Scud-ER, would only have a flight time of about 12 minutes if flown on a slightly lofted trajectory that traveled 700 km.

A 30-minute flight time instead require a missile that was highly lofted, reaching an apogee of about 2,000 km (1,240 miles) while splashing down at a range of 700 km. If that same missile was flown on a standard trajectory, it would have a maximum range of about 4,500 km (2,800 km).

New press reports are in fact giving a 2,000 km apogee for the test.


Fig. 1 The black curve is the lofted trajectory flown on the test. The red curve is the same missile flown on a normal (MET) trajectory.

This 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.

[Daniel Ramsey]

By these results the next one with slightly more fuel will reach Oahu.

[Daniel Ramsey]

Off the top of my head the best weapon would be a massive Rods from God salvo, hyper kinetic projectiles with minimal or no explosives, sheer speed from an orbital platform, so fast no interception is possible.

[veracious]

USA really this retarded. Shoot them down. Duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jet Jaguar]

Thank you.

[gandalftb]

Preliminary report it was a Bukgeukseong-2, AKA Pukguksong-2, AKA KN-15.

First tested 12 February 2017, solid fuel.

[VanShuyten]

Put a rather heavy nuke on that, and it would still reach Sasebo.

I wonder if the old rumor that Japan could put together a hundred nukes in a couple of weeks is close to true.

[Spktyr]

Go check out what Obama did to the Ballistic Missile Defense programs. We can’t legally engage a missile while it’s boosting if it’s in NK airspace and what Obama left us that we can deploy in the area at current can’t shoot it down at the altitude and speed at which it exits NK airspace.

And Obama had the big airborne laser program killed off in 2011.

[Spktyr]

With what would we lift such systems into orbit, assuming we could get such a program past our feckless Congress and could get North Korea to wait the 8-10 years to get a system in orbit?

[Spktyr]

They are still accounted as a “six week to six month nuclear power.”

However, it has long been rumored that Japan has several ready-to-assemble devices ready to be put together just in case. In which case it would be less than a week to first usable munition. Since they’ve never been assembled, Japan can honestly claim they have no nuclear weapons (which they do so claim) but whenever a knowledgeable Japanese politician is directly asked if Japan already has all the parts for a nuke, they *never* answer directly.

[Bobalu]

Japan has a LOT of plutonium and tritium.

[TexasCruzin]

That’s what was reported for our last two ICBM tests from Caifornia in the past couple of weeks. 4,000 miles in 30 minutes. Both written and TV news reports.

[Despot of the Delta]

The X 37B came home this last week and NK fires a missile that doesn’t blow up. Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmm.

[Spktyr]

Another perspective, with citations: https://gaijinass.com/2012/07/13/japans-nuclear-weapons-program/

The first and second responses on this question provide a cultural perspective: https://www.quora.com/Can-Japan-build-a-nuclear-weapon-in-one-week-Japan-has-among-the-Smartest-people-on-earth-with-their-advanced-Technology-and-Heavy-industry

Bottom line: It would be extremely risky to decide that Japan does not have immediate or near immediate access to at least *some* nuclear devices and equally risky to assume that Japan could not in the short term easily assemble enough additional devices to become a first rank nuclear power if provoked. As the guy at the second link says, “One doesn’t acquire enough nuclear material for 50 nuclear weapons [in the name of] research and then go, “Oh, that’s interesting! Nope, won’t be making any of those!”.”

[Davy Crocket]

We could send them a calling card.. Like a thousand Cruise Missiles!

[FreedomStar3028]

We don’t have any up there though. Those were theoretical weapons. Well not so much theoretical as an idea that we could have a working model of.

[FreedomStar3028]

Yea, it didn’t blow up. It was successful.