09 July, 2017
Missile Defense Agency said Friday, July 7 it would soon test an anti-ballistic missile system, days after North Korea demonstrated its arsenal was capable of striking parts of Alaska, AFP reports.
Alarmed by North Korea's latest missile tests and claims that its newly developed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) can carry a large nuclear warhead, Ward believes it is time to refurbish the tunnels as civilian shelters in case of a North Korean attack.
The US Missile Defence Agency confirmed it aimed to carry out the test "in early July".
THAAD uses radar to detect incoming short- and medium-range ballistic missiles both inside and outside Earth's atmosphere.
THAAD interceptors are positioned in Guam which are meant to help guard against a missile attacks, such as one from North Korea.
The defense system isn't created to take on the kind of intercontinental missile North Korea launched, though. Created to take out short, medium and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, Lockheed Martin says that using powerful radar systems, THAAD can intercept missiles traveling inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere.
The U.S. installed unspecified parts of THAAD in South Korea earlier this year, despite objections from China, Russia and even opposition from Seoul.
That GMD system has only a 55% success rate over the life of the program.
That led the Pentagon to upgrade its assessment of America's ability to defend against a small number of ICBMs, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.
The looming US test will reportedly happen in Alaska.
North Korea has conducted nearly a dozen missile tests so far this year - at least, that's how many we know of.
