US military blows North Korea-style missile out of the sky in test aimed at showing Kim Jong-un who is boss
THE US has shot down a simulated incoming intermediate-range ballistic missile similar to the one launched by North Korea last week.
The test of the state-of-the-art THAAD missile defence system, over the Pacific Ocean, comes amid heightened concerns about the nuclear threat from Pyongyang.
Trigger-happy tyrant Kim Jong-un reportedly laughed as he fired his military's first ICBM declaring it a special "gift for American b******s on July 4".
Bizarrely describing the intercontinental missile as a "handsome good-looking boy" the despot "added that we "should send them gifts once in a while to help break their boredom".
Now America's military has carried out its own show of strength to prove it is ready for anything fired its way.
The test was the first-ever of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system against an incoming IRBM - which is faster and more difficult target to hit than shorter-range missiles.
The US Missile Defense Agency said the IRBM was designed to behave similarly to the kinds of missiles that could threaten the United States.
"The successful demonstration of THAAD against an IRBM-range missile threat bolsters the country's defensive capability against developing missile threats in North Korea and other countries," the Missile Defense Agency said in a statement.
The US had not previously tested THAAD against an IRBM, despite having deployed the system to the island of Guam, a US territory in the Pacific, in 2013 amid concerns about North Korea's missile program.
That means that, until the latest test, the THAAD system had an unproven capability against IRBMs - missiles that have a range of between 1,800 and 3,100 miles (3,000 to 5,500 km).
Guam is approximately 2,100 miles (3,400 km) from North Korea.
In order to hit the mainland United States, North Korea would need to fire an ICBM, which is defined as a missile with a range greater than 3,400 miles (5,500 km).
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In the latest test, a THAAD in Kodiak, Alaska, intercepted a ballistic missile target that was air-launched from a C-17 aircraft flying north of Hawaii
However, John Schilling, a contributor to 38 North, a North Korea monitoring project, downplayed the idea that THAAD might be able to take out a longer range ICBM.
"To engage an ICBM with THAAD would be like asking a high school baseball player to hit a fastball from a major-league pitcher - literally out of his league," Schilling said.
The Missile Defense Agency told Congress in June that it planned to deliver 52 more THAAD interceptors to the US Army between October 2017 and September 2018.
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