North Korea’s most recent long-range ballistic missile test demonstrated to the world that Kim Jong-un’s regime now possesses a platform capable of reaching further than ever before, with some experts extrapolating a range capable of targeting cities as far as away as America’s Boston or New York City.
More recent analysis of the overall flight path of the ICBM, however, shows that there’s a high likelihood that North Korea’s re-entry vehicle may have failed to survive the extreme temperatures of passing back through the atmosphere en route to its target, meaning Kim Jong Un may indeed be able to lob a weapon at the other side of the globe, but there are still no guarantees that he can hit anything with it.
Using video footage captured by Japan’s Hokkaido Prefecture broadcast by Japan’s NHK television, Michael Elleman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, believes he’s been able to confirm that the re-entry vehicle began to come apart 2.5 to 3 miles above the Earth’s surface, before dimming from view and disappearing entirely.
“Had the RV survived the rigors of re-entry, it would have continued to glow … A reasonable conclusion based on the video evidence is that the … re-entry vehicle did not survive,” he said.
“If the bomb itself were exposed to these very severe conditions, it would be torn apart,” he explained. “In short, if the reentry vehicle breaks up, the bomb is not going to be useful — and it’s not going to detonate.”
Of course, this failure doesn’t mean Kim’s nuclear aspirations have resulted in an overall failure, rather that this particular test wasn’t an overall success. There is little evidence to support the idea that the re-entry vehicle used on North Korea’s July 4th test failed, and to be frank, these types of failures are exactly why nations conduct such tests. Like missing a tackle at football practice, a failure during a missile test ultimately amounts to nothing – as it’s your performance with the game, or the world, on the line that these efforts aim to improve.
This failure does, however, indicate that Kim’s claims that the entire United States is now within his targeting reach are, like so many other statements issued by the North Korean government, exaggerated at best, but that hasn’t stopped his regime from levying a new round of bombastic threats at the United States.
Every minute and every second, the new reality that U.S. mainland is on the knife’s edge of life and death is forcing U.S. administration to wave a white flag and fundamentally change her North Korea policy,” a column released on Thursday in the State-owned Rodong Sinmun newspaper said.
“It is not the denuclearization of N. Korea, but the security of U.S. mainland which should be the top priority of Trump administration,” it goes on. “If U.S. still refuses to accept such a realistic demand and doggedly pursue hostile policy against North Korea in order to save face, she will receive unexpected ‘gift packages’ which we will continue to send.”
With no elaboration on what the phrase “gift packages” might mean, it stands to reason that North Korea is suggesting further missile test-launches will take place in the near future. A more dire interpretation could suggest North Korea may be working to attack or otherwise influence U.S. interests at home or abroad, but it seems unlikely that they would advertise such an endeavor in a newspaper column.
Despite the apparent failure of the re-entry vehicle of Kim’s most recent ICBM test, Elleman concurs with the Pentagon’s assessment that North Korea will likely have a fully functional ICBM platform soon – possibly even by the end of this year. So, even if you can’t take Kim Jong-un’s word for it today, by this time next year, he may no longer have to rely on exaggeration.
Image courtesy of North Korea’s State Owned KCNA
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Lil Kim needs to go. If ever there was a time to fly alone in the face of global opinion this is it. NK claims of American imperialistic designs on them are obvious and total bullshit. This reminds me of years of listening to OBL proclaim death to the great Satan Should we wait for another strike here at home? I vote no. Tell the Chinese to get him under control or stand aside and prepare to pick up the pieces after Lil Kim is decaying Good first step to showing Iran how the advanced nuke program plan is good to go
As the man says in the article "Is anyone listening?" That is one scary article WTMG. The more I think about it...the more I wonder what that Russian video meant when it showed an ancient culture along with Medvedev's social media warning regarding our sanctions. Was it a form of hidden "smirk" because he knew something we didn't?
. ...Cities would become instant deathtraps. No water, no power, no sewage. And where do 8 million people from one city go... if they could ever get out in the first place? ...Right now there are only a few major replacement items ready to go... Two year lead times on new ones... and that's not for massive replacements. Three hundred million Americans can not survive on late 19th Century technology... Conservative estimates at least 80 million dead. ...Congress has been under pressure to get the power industry to start "hardening" systems and having more backups to hand... and making sure that the grid isn't set up to where hostile forces (or some twerp in his mother's basement) can hack into it. How about if the dynamos at Hoover Dam got a computer instruction to shut off lubrication. Far too many systems in the U.S. are "on-line" and vulnerable. This is reckless stupidity. ...But most power companies only about the next financial statement, and most politicos only about the next election. More than a few key politicos getting brib...uh, er... contributions from power companies do kill, stall, or water down what needs to be done. Even 2% a year would be 20% in a decade... ...Oh, and the bad guys don't have to be the ones to do this to us. In the 1800s there was a massive solar flare that would have taken out everything that we have now... but in those days nothing but telegraphs to be brought down. -YP-
This would create a much greater catastrophe in our nation than a nuclear bomb landing in a major city. The ramifications of losing our electrical grids would be devastating to our life in this nation. The time it would take to create and replace all the wiring, circuitry, etc, etc would contribute to overwhelming starvation, dehydration, loss of medical and emergency response services, communications...the list goes on. We saw the rioting from lack of services and essential supplies following major hurricanes or tornadoes. Can you imagine what it would be like over major areas of North America? Granted, there would still be shelters to live in. Just nothing to eat and no way to pump water or fuel for heat or to transport coal or wood for those with fireplaces. Or to fight fires or get emergency support to those in need. Cities across the nation would be chaos. If it occurred in winter, people couldn't even rely on gardens to provide food once the food stores were depleted of their stock. What a huge nightmare that would be. We are so doggone dependent on electricity and electronics in our culture. Most people have forgotten how to do for themselves...if they ever knew. And to top it off...wouldn't Russia and China be tickled pink for that to happen to us. Wouldn't surprise me if they haven't already suggested that scenario to Kim. We would survive a nuclear strike...just not those on the X. I see an EMP as a whole different ballgame. Hopefully I am totally and imaginatively way out in left field on this.
, ...Serious speculation that mobile launchers may be a diversion from actual missile silos... http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/north-koreas-icbm-tests-may-be-a-deception-tactic-to-hide-a-much-more-capable-threat/ar-AApr9GJ?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=U345DHP -Yankee Papa-