Pentagon warns a North Korean missile launch would be 'provocative' (U.S. to Intercept?)

AFP (via Yahoo!) ^

[Rutles4Ever]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Defense Department warned that a North Korean launch of a long-range missile would be a "provocative act." ADVERTISEMENT

"There are reports they may be preparing for a long-range missile launch," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.

"The United States government as a whole has been consulting with allies in the region and has made clear than a North Korean missile launch would be a provocative act," he said.

Whitman noted that the United States has limited missile defenses but would not say whether it intends to use them against a North Korean missile launch.

However, he pointedly used the term "launch" rather than "test" to describe the North Korean preparations and said Pyongyang's intentions were not clear.

"A test would imply that you would know the intentions," he said. "We don't know the intentions."

North Korea last tested a long range missile in 1998 when it fired a two-stage Taepodong missile over Japan, causing an international furore.

It declared a moratorium on flight tests of long range missiles in 1999 but said in 2005 that it would no longer keep to it.

As early as 2004, US intelligence reported that North Korea may have a Taepodong-2 missile capable of reaching the United States with a nuclear-weapon sized payload ready for flight testing.

US military intelligence believes a two-stage Taepodong-2 missile could reach the United States, while a three-stage Taepodong-2 could range the entire continental United States.

[The Sons of Liberty]

If we try to shoot it down and fail, it will embolden the North Koreans.

The CIA / Delta Force shoulf blow it up on the launch pad and be sure to take out the scientists working on it. Of course, I'm not opposed to an "Arc-Light" strike by B-52s to take it out or a tactical nuclear strike.

[FrankR]

You were originally speaking of working with several variations of the AIM-9; so I was wracking my brain over that one as all I remembered (40 years ago, right?) was the AIM-3, AIM-4 and AIM-21 series.

Then it finally hit me...the AIM-9 missiles were the SIDEWINDERS, not the Falcons. Sidewinders were about 9ft long, and only about 5 inches in diameter...usually white. The Falcons were generally about 5-6ft long and about 7" in diameter, and were usually painted orange, orange/white, or just white for the Nukes.

Ouch, all that remembering hurts my brain....anyway, as sophisticated as the Falcons were, they were playtoys compared to today's smart bombs and other missiles.

However, missile guidance was a good lesson in life, as in: "You can never hit your target without a few errors (error signals).".

[Nickey]

"Of course, I'm not opposed to an "Arc-Light" strike by B-52s to take it out or a tactical nuclear strike."

SLCM to get the target site, and assembly site, with small tac weapon. Airburst Pyongyang to destroy their electronic communication, the Communists are top-down strategists and cannot move when the brain is dead.

We should NOT tip our hand about B61 warhead on the Kinetic Kill Vehicles "Star Wars" by intercept. Just from all NONCLASSIFIED INFORMATION I expect that the "KKV" with 5kt-10kt weapon can wreck anything within 1 km, and EMR will destroy components within 25-50 km. Satellites and ground electronics is too far away to destroy. But someone will whine about stupid treaty. So no.

[GrandEagle]

Then it finally hit me...the AIM-9 missiles were the SIDEWINDERS
Sorry, I should have expounded a bit.
We had the Falcons in tech school, and I actually got to work on (more like work with the guys working on) a Falcon variant in Panama City, FL. They were pretty cool. You actually got to work on the guts of the missile with them.
Most of my work was the AIM-9 (sidewinders) and the AIM-7 (sparrow), AGM-65 (Maverick), and the AGM-45 (Can't remember). Also worked with LGB (laser guided bombs).
With the 9's we were pretty much component changers, Guidance unit, warhead, influence fuse, etc. With the 7's there was some "unofficial" tweaking you could do if your unit had a printer to attach to the test set. The printer actually printed the error signal instead of just the test set's go/no go lights.
I worked with the F-4, F-15, & F-111's mostly.

Thanks for the stroll down memory lane! Many fond memories,

Cordially,
GE