Is the United States planning to try and shoot down North Korea’s next ballistic missile test? With North Korea successfully launching an intercontinental ballistic missile last weekend and President Trump stating that the US has “many beautiful things” in the works concerning the situation, some are suspecting a possible missile intercept attempt.
The distinctive missile telemetry ship MV Pacific Collector is in port at Aloha Tower, possibly for a key upcoming ballistic missile defense test. The 393-foot ship with twin domes housing 24-foot antennas is owned by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration and used in support of U.S. Missile Defense Agency missions.
Spokesman Chris Johnson said the agency doesn’t usually talk about assets used in a missile defense test until after the fact, but did confirm the next flight intercept test of the ground-based mid-course ballistic missile defense system is planned for late May.
That test will be the first time a ground-based missile interceptor launched from California attempts to smash into a “threat-representative” intercontinental ballistic missile in its mid-course over the Pacific, the Missile Defense Agency said. – Military.com
Shooting down one of their missiles or even just attempting to do so would definitely send a strong message to North Korea and the rest of the world.
Featured image of a threat representative target being launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) to be intercepted as part of a Missile Defense Agency test of the sea-based capability under development by U.S. Navy