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United States Deploys USS McCain and USS Chafee With Aegis Anti-Missile Technology Off North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (C) visits to the construction place for the Heechon power plant at an undisclosed place in North Korea, in this picture released by North Korea’s official news agency KCNA March 26, 2009. North Korea has put a long-range missile in place for a launch the United States warned would violate U.N. sanctions already imposed on the reclusive state for past weapons tests
The United States Navy has stated that two destroyers (USS McCain and USS Chafee) which are fitted with Aegis anti-missile technology have left port in Japan to patrol the waters off of North Korea in the event of a missile launch.The US Navy spokesman said the two destroyers – the USS McCain and USS Chafee – equipped with Aegis technology capable of tracking and destroying missiles had left Sasebo port in southwestern Japan. “I would say we are ready for any contingencies,” he added.
And, Japan has previously stated that they would shoot down the Taepodong-2 missile should North Korea launch it (Target dates: April 4 – 8).
Stay tuned…….
Technorati Tags: North Korea, USS McCain, USS Chafee, Kim Jong-il, Missile Defense, Aegis
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North Korea Warns United States About Counterstrike And War Over Missile/Satellite Test
North Korea has issued the warning and will this be the first foreign policy test of President Barack Obama?North Korea warned Monday that any move to intercept what it calls a satellite launch and what other countries suspect may be a missile test-firing would result in a counterstrike against the countries trying to stop it.
“We will retaliate (over) any act of intercepting our satellite for peaceful purposes with prompt counterstrikes by the most powerful military means,” the official Korean Central News Agency quoted a spokesman of the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army as saying.
If countries such as the United States, Japan or South Korea try to intercept the launch, the North Korean military will carry out “a just retaliatory strike operation not only against all the interceptor means involved but against the strongholds” of the countries, it said.
“Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war,” it added.
North Korea earlier announced it is preparing to put a communications satellite into space, but outside observers suspect it may in fact be a test-firing of a long-range ballistic missile.
The United States with its Aegis missile defense system could be deployed against the North Korea missile test which is masquerading as a space satellite launch. But, will Obama order the confrontation that could lead to another Korean War?
Obama and his Democrat allies in the United States Senate like Kennedy, Kerry and Levin, plus vice President Joe Biden have never been fond of a national missile defense program that is now operational and protecting the Western United States from a North Korean nuclear ICBM launch. Now, will Obama use it against a legitimate threat to America?
Stay tuned……
Technorati Tags: North Korea, Aegis, Missile Defense
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Missile Defense Watch: Another Successful Aegis System Intercept
SM-2 Launch June 5, 2008
Yesterday there was another successful test of the sea-based missile defense sytem.
Air Force Lieutenant General Henry “Trey” Obering III, Missile Defense Agency (MDA) director, announced the successful completion of the latest flight test of the sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) element, conducted jointly with the U.S. Navy off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii. The event, designated as Flight Test Maritime-14 (FTM-14), marked the fourteenth overall successful intercept, in sixteen attempts, for the Aegis BMD program and the second successful intercept of a terminal phase (last few seconds of flight) target by a modified Standard Missile – 2 Block IV (SM-2 Blk IV) interceptor. The mission was completed by the cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70), using the tactically-certified Aegis BMD shipboard weapon system, modified for a terminal capability, and the modified SM-2 Blk IV. This is the 35th successful terminal and midcourse defense intercept in 43 tests since 2001.
Aegis BMD is the sea-based mid-course component of the MDA’s Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) and is designed to intercept and destroy short to intermediate-range ballistic missile threats. In 2006, the program’s role was expanded to include a sea-based terminal defense effort, using a modified version of the SM-2 Blk IV. Unlike other missile defense technologies now deployed or in development, the SM-2 Blk IV does not use “hit to kill” technology (directly colliding with the target) to destroy the target missile. Rather, it uses a blast fragmentation device that explodes in direct proximity to the target to complete the intercept and destroy the target.
Congratulations to the Missile Defense Agency for another successful test of the Aegis BMD system.
Does anyone see the direct application of this sytem?
How about parking the USS Lake Erie off the coast of Israel(against Syria or Iran)in the Persian Gulf (against Iran or Syria) or Japan (against North Korea).
And, to think that there are members of the United States Senate, namely Sentors Levin, Kerry, Kennedy and Biden who ridiculed the Reagan and the two Bush Administrations for researching and deploying this system.
Amazing and WRONG short-sightedness.
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China and Russia Critical of U.S. Missile Defense
Shocker: Secret Launch Site for Iranian Long Range Missiles
Missile Defense Watch: Bush Wins NATO Endorsement of European Missile Defense Shield