Posted on 03/27/2009 7:27:24 PM PDT by kellynla
America's top military officer said on Friday that a rocket North Korea plans to launch next month has a range that could possibly reach Hawaii. Asked if the North Korean rocket could reach the US states of Hawaii or Alaska, Admiral Mike Mullen told CNN: "In some cases, yes, they could probably get down to Hawaii."
International concern has been mounting about North Korea's announcement it would launch a communications satellite between April 4 and 8.
The United States, Japan and other allies believe Pyongyang is using the launch to test a ballistic missile that could, in theory, cross the Pacific to reach North America.
The launch, combined with North Korea's atomic weapons, were cause for serious concern, the admiral said.
Mullen added the regime's missiles did not yet have a range that could strike the western coast of the US mainland.
Arms experts say North Korea has yet to demonstrate it has the ability to construct and fit a nuclear warhead onto a missile.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
How do say "embargo" in Chinese & "blockade" in N. Korean?
What makes you think Barry has the spine to do this?
This could be the true verification that this technology needs. In the past, targets were launched by us and downed by us. Now, if we down a target put up by a moronic, unpredictable dork, we can truly say we have a winner.
Hussein is one sick puppy. His ideology will have our enemies sleeping in the Lincoln bedroom soon enough, being waited on by servants from the Muslim terrorists released from Club Gitmo.
This is one horrible situation and he and his goons in the radical commie Congress are setting us up for a major fall into dictatorial socialism and the Constitution will be used as a door mat for the White House....
Knowing our luck, it would likely take out the Hawaii birth records.
July, 2006 “Failed North Korean Missile Aimed at Hawaii?”
http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/main/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/567/Failed-North-Korean-Missile-Aimed-at-Hawaii.aspx
March 27, 2009 Kauai Enviros point finger at Barking Sands over fish kill (center of missile defence in Pacific)
http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/main/ArticlesDailyNews/tabid/65/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/564/March-27-2009-News-Read.aspx
This is one horrible situation and he and his goons in the radical commie Congress are setting us up for a major fall into dictatorial socialism and the Constitution will be used as a door mat for the White House....
I agree with everything except for the part about the Muslim terrorists waiting on our enemies who will be sleeping in the Lincoln bedroom...
I think the Muslim terrorists WILL BE sleeping in the Lincoln bedroom.
Kim to Zero....”U raff u ruse.” Of course...knowing Zero when confronted, he’s always willing to give that ‘condescending laugh’.
A North Korean thread is not complete without my favorite Madeline Albright clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h3GPc_yMCE
The Obama administration will fit right into this rich legacy.
I say we shoot the thing down...
And all the Chicoms have to do is start dumping US bonds and it's we who'll come to heel.
How do you say "pay up your trade debts" in English?
Unfortunately, we're at Mutual Assured Economic Destruction if either the Chinese or the Americans start a trade war.
However, the Chinese don’t want to have NK nuke Hawaii because in about six months China will buy it from the US, like we bought Alaska from Russia.
Can you believe we have become a debtor nation?
Seriously though, this is a good test of the radars and crews. They'll have to be on alert starting, well, just about any time now. They won't get notice of specific, or even general launch times. To add to the fun, no real idea of the actual flight path - what azimuth and elevation it'll be fired at, nor exact staging and range. Finally, no telling if it'll be a "clean" missile or dump a lot of debris on staging events...maybe even toss out a few decoys or chaff if it really is an IRBM test. So the radars, alert crews, and the whole intel side of the house are going to get a workout.
As for reaching Hawaii or Alaska, that really depends on total impulse in the booster stack and payload weight. They might be able to loft a lightweight test into orbit - similar to the Iranian satellite. That was what, 50 or 60 lbs? However, if you put a ton or more of warhead/re-entry vehicle on it, and it will not go as far.
A ton or so is probably a fair estimate for a first generation warhead/vehicle. They'll have to over-engineer it some to ensure it works. These things have to survive launch stresses (more than 5Gs is a good guess), atmospheric heating and aerodynamic forces (pressure and vibration). Then there's the cold of space and exo-atmospheric solar radiation. Depending on re-entry angle and vehicle aerodynamics, they can smack the upper atmosphere and catch huge G loads. Then there's tremendous friction heating and more vibration. Inside is the physics package where you have to maintain precision alignments and all the components need to work with nearly flawless timing...
What I'd like to know is this... Where are the NK "fishing trawlers?" If there are some suspicious NK surface vessels anywhere out in the Pacific, that might be a potential re-entry area. If they're testing an IRBM, they'll no-doubt instrument the heck out of the boosters and the dummy payload. They'll need intel ships nearby to collect the signals.
Anyway, if this thing gets anywhere near Hawaii, even if it looks to make orbit, I think we ought to shoot it down. It would be a good system validation. Who's going to know? Who has radar coverage around Hawaii but us? Think anyone would notice if USS Lake Erie paints another satellite silhouette on the side of the wheelhouse?
Keep in mind that Iranian petrodollars fund the NK missile program and the two nations cooperate closely. If NK has a missile that can reach Hawaii, you can be sure that Iran will have a missile of equal range soon.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.