North Korea tested a new anti-aircraft system that leader Kim Jong
Un says will “completely spoil the enemy’s dream to command the
air,” the state news agency reported Sunday, following weeks of
ballistic missile tests.
The KCNA news agency said glitches detected in an earlier test have
been “perfectly overcome,” paving the way for the weapon to be mass
produced and deployed nationwide, according to SkyNews.
Kim Jong Un: North Korea threatens the United States
State media reported the new weapon system is designed to “detect
and strike different targets flying from any location.”
The latest test was attended by Kim Jong Un, in addition to three
men believed to be the top officials in the reclusive country’s missile
program.
The three men were identified by Reuters as Ri Pyong Chol, a
former top air force general; Kim Jong Sik, a veteran rocket scientist;
and Jang Chang Ha, the head of the Academy of National Defense
Science, a weapons development and procurement centre.
North Korean state media said the weapons system would stop
hostile nations “boasting of air supremacy and weapon almighty.”
On Friday, officials said the Pentagon will try to shoot down an
intercontinental-range missile for the first time in a test this week.
The goal is to more closely simulate a North Korean ICBM aimed at
the U.S. homeland, officials said.
North Korea is now the focus of U.S. efforts because its leader has
vowed to field a nuclear-armed missile capable of reaching American
territory.
He has yet to test an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, but
Pentagon officials believe he is speeding in that direction.
Marine Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence
Agency, said last week that “left unchecked,” Kim will eventually
succeed.
The Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency, which is responsible for
developing and testing the system, has scheduled the intercept test
for Tuesday.
An interceptor is to be launched from an underground silo at
Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and soar toward the target,
which will be fired from a test range on Kwajalein Atoll in the
Pacific.
If all goes as planned, the “kill vehicle” will slam into the ICBM-
like target’s mock warhead high over the Pacific Ocean.
The target will be a custom-made missile meant to simulate an
ICBM, meaning it will fly faster than missiles used in previous
intercept tests, according to Christopher Johnson, spokesman for the
Missile Defense Agency.
The target is not a mock-up of an actual North Korean ICBM.
“We conduct increasingly complex test scenarios as the program
matures and advances,” Johnson said Friday. “Testing against an
ICBM-type threat is the next step in that process.”
