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The Pentagon celebrated the first successful test of a missile defense system designed to shoot down enemy-armed intercontinental missiles, such as North Korea.
According to Air Force General Samuel Greaves, director of the Missile Defense Agency, the missile defense system worked "exactly" as expected down a warhead model that took off 4,000 miles.
A warhead model took off from the Reagan test site on the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands.
After the launch of the intercontinental ballistic missile target representative of the threat, the GBI-Lead interceptor managed to shoot down the unarmed reentry vehicle. The second interceptor, known as the GBI Trail, then targeted the next "deadliest object" after failing to identify any other returning vehicle, according to the missile defense agency.
"This was the first GBI salvage interception of a complex ICBM target and representative of the threat, and it was a crucial step," Greaves said in a statement released Monday. "The system worked exactly as it was designed, and the results of this test prove that the salvo doctrine can be used in missile defense." The mid-ground defense system is of importance. vital for the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a competent and credible deterrent against a very real threat. "
Although North Korea has not conducted any testing since the end of 2017, US authorities doubt that North Korea is abandoning its nuclear weapons and missile programs. For example, National Intelligence Director Dan Coats told the Senate in January: "We currently believe that North Korea will seek to keep its weapons of mass destruction. [weapons of mass destruction] and is unlikely to completely abandon its nuclear weapons and production capacity, as its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as essential to the survival of the regime. "
Late last month, President Trump gave up a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Subsequently, North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Son Hu warned that the rogue regime would end the denuclearization talks with the United States and said that Kim could start doing missile testing again. .
The successful test of the missile defense agency Monday was greeted by Senator Dan Sullivan, of R-Ark., Who said the demonstration would make his enemies doubt their offensive capabilities.
"This test gives our enemies a break, prompting them to question the effectiveness of their offensive capabilities," Sullivan said in a statement released on Monday. "This doubt, coupled with the threat of a US military response, reinforces our deterrence position, including against threats from rogue nations."
The ground-based mid-term defense system was deemed operational in 2004 by the Pentagon. Monday's test marked the first test using interception "salvo" with several interceptors.
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