Experts doubt US's ability to intercept North Korean missiles

CNN reported on August 10 that the US appears to be “seriously considering” shooting down any North Korean missiles aimed at the waters around Guam, a US territory in the Pacific. However, many experts warn that US missile interception technology is not yet capable of completing this task.

(Source: news.sky.com)

Adam Mount, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP), said the US military could use the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system or Aegis destroyers to intercept any North Korean projectiles. THAAD is one of the US's main weapons against missile attacks.

"If they (the US) believe what they know that they (the missiles) cannot hit US territory, then maybe they will let them fall into the sea, but I think they will also consider very seriously about shooting them down," Mr. Mount said.

Mr. Mount explained that if these missiles fell within a 40km radius around Guam as a threat, then according to US law, it would fall within the US exclusive economic zone (EEZ) even though this is not the country's territorial waters.

Mount also said Pyongyang's threats to launch multiple missiles at Guam could be a calculated move to prove Washington's claims of missile defense capabilities are a "bluff." Mount stressed that if one of the four long-range missiles successfully penetrates the US defense system, it would be a huge victory for Pyongyang.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bruce Bennett, senior analyst at the Rand Corporation - a non-profit global policy research institute in the US, commented that President Donald Trump's final decision will be whether to test the US defense systems or not. Mr. Bennett said: "This is an experimental system, which means we can hit or miss the target, we don't know for sure."

Mr Bennett stressed that an attempt to shoot down a missile is precisely what North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wants to see, because missing an incoming projectile would be embarrassing for the US military.

Guam is equipped with the THAAD system, which can intercept any missile fired from Pyongyang toward the island, according to Bennett. However, Bennett noted that the maximum range of THAAD is only 200km. Meanwhile, the US Aegis-class destroyers equipped with ballistic missiles can intercept a missile with a wider range.

North Korea had previously warned the US that Pyongyang was considering "launching four Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missiles" in mid-August towards Guam, a US territory in the Pacific.

According to VNN