Interceptors headed to West Coast
The Associated Press reports that the Defense department is sending 14 interceptors to the West Coast, ostensibly to beef up defenses against any froggy leaps by North Korea;
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel planned to announce the decision later Friday. It was first reported by Fox News.
In advance of Hagel’s announcement, defense officials confirmed the decision on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
The Pentagon intends to add the 14 interceptors to 30 already in place in California and Alaska. That will expand the system’s ability to shoot down long-range missiles in flight before they could reach U.S. territory.
James Miller, defense undersecretary for policy, said in a speech Tuesday that the Pentagon has the ability to deploy up to 14 additional missile interceptors, “if needed.” He did not say in the speech that a decision had been made to do so.
Ya know what would be funny, if it wasn’t so fricken sad? For the last two or three Republican presidents, we had to hear how, with the Soviets gone, we didn’t need to worry about missile defense, that space-based defensive systems were useless in today’s environment. What? Are you worried about the North Koreans, or something? Ha-ha-ha. You wingnuts are still living in the Cold War era.
Now, who’s wringing their hands? What? You worried about the North Koreans?
Category: Military issues
How can Obama possibly deploy these weapons with the sequester? Didn’t they roll up all the interstates and turn off the lights?
Remember, this is the same administration that pulled the rug out from under our allies the Poles because Iran wasn’t supposedly a threat.
Yet today, Obumbles is telling us that Iran is no more than a year away from a nuke.
Okay, SFB, which one is it?
So…does this mean the administration actually thinks there is a credible threat, or are they just “doing something” to look busy again?
I saw that on my front page. The article said they’re being sent to Alaska because of the Norks’ and Lil Kim’s threats.
I also watched the birds and hot snow video. At least, you all warned me about it. I could not take and entire four minutes of it.
vern: read carefully, the article actually says that we will deploy the interceptors “if needed” and that the DoD “has the capability” to do that. It does not announce a decision/plan/schedule to actually deploy anything.
This is the same administration that had canceled the expansion of those same systems in 2009. Then they told use there was no need for such systems, oops.
Ah, Hondo read the article again. The part that says “if needed” was from a speech on Tuesday.
Ya gotta point, Jonn – I missed the Tuesday speech bit and thought the AP article was exaggerating things in the lead-in (wouldn’t be the first time AP’s played fast and loose with facts). Mea culpa.
Still, let’s see what the SECDEF actually says.
I have a friend who works as a miner in Alaska. I’ll say this about a possible nuke strike — I never thought I’d see the day I’d be glad to see him spend 12 hours a day, 800 feet underground!
Well, we now have a plan and a schedule. Per the SECDEF, the 14 additional interceptors apparently will be deployed – by 2017.
Additional actions (shifting of unspecified “resources” from the delayed European Aegis system and the previously-announced second ABM radar system planned for Japan) will also occur. No specific dates were announced for these.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/15/17327806-us-to-deploy-more-ground-based-missile-interceptors-as-north-korea-steps-up-threats
BRING THE FIGHT TO THE ENEMY
END KOREAN WAR AND FREE THE PEOPLE
1. Turn off their lights.
2. STRAT bombing.
3. Total material and economic blockade.
4. Control the skies.
5. Limited ground movement north.
6. Tear down fence and open up DMZ.
Any questions?
I am not a math-magician, but the likelihood of shooting down an ICBM with a jet has to be miniscule. They are not fast enough to intercept, so land based rockets would be as effective. The jets are not likely to loft anything with enough boost to do the job. I think we could guide the warhead to intercept but land or ship based tools would be more effective.
“Missile interceptor” Has anybody ever used that term for a jet before?
@12 I think the interceptors being referred to are missiles, not jets, Tom.
No questions, Master Chief. But don’t forget to give China the hairy eyeball while tapping on your B-2 Spirits.
PintoNag: correct, they’re formally called “Ground-Based Interceptors”.
http://www.defense.gov/specials/missiledefense/gbi.html
Keep announcing our defense measures you knobs.
But but but I thought missile defense was an untested failure that would never work and was a waste of money!
@11 – Master Chief, the Norks don’t have any lights to turn off. If you look at the “Earth at Night” poster, the brilliantly it up island nation of Japan sits next to the brilliantly lit up nation of South Korea, and then there is this dark gap between South Korea and China.
That is North Korea.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=earth+at+night+poster&id=AB5CBA570A21FD60F7C75E01890C9007F9DD69ED&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=E56104A8E3B22356B8FA9F0B65C27E942730CAB8&selectedIndex=15
According to stats on Wikipedia, as of 2010 there have been 16 intercept tests with 8 of those (50%) considered successful…For whatever its worth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_Based_Interceptor
When was the last time we made a real world deployment of US Forces on US Soil to counter a potential threat from another Nation?
I honestly do not know what to make of this, is there more they are not telling us? I mean this is supposed to be the most transparent administration in history…
@20 – It is definitely the most transparent admin ever. They blab abpit things they shouldn’t discuss at all, chastise and/or chase away legitimate members of the press, act like schoolyard bullies every chance they get, and lie like Persian rugs about things that they actually should discuss.
They’re all so incompetent, I wonder how any of them can get dressed without written instructions. And they change their minds with the weather report.
What more could you ask of them?
Sorry — abpit should be spelled about.
Makes me glad I live in the middle of the country in a place foreign crazies and terrorists have probably never heard of.
Wasn’t the interceptor concept tested during the Gulf War?
I saw some of those Patriot missiles intercepting SCUDs. I know, I know — different missile going on here, but still….
The interceptors do work … remember the Navy shipboard shot? Re-armed and re-programmed shipboard systems and the technology worked. 1 shot … 1 kill!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvXV2QEdA34
“The Navy not only succeeded in knocking a falling spy satellite out of the sky 130 miles up, but officials believe the missile interceptor struck the satellite’s fuel tank, destroying the toxic goo before it could fall to Earth.
“We have a hit!” was the radio message transmitted to the Pentagon three minutes after the missile was launched.”
What a sad and sorry state of affairs it is , that we have to do this.
It never would have happened when Ronald Reagan was president, or even George Bush.
That overstuffed little punk Jong..whatever his name is, his grandfather and his father would never have made such a threat because they knew there would be a serious shitstorm coming their way if they did.
Now with this worthless “shitstain so called President ” nobody has any fear of the USA anymore.
Everyone considers him a pussy, they know the repercussions will be nil.
The reality of the situation is, The nation we have been at war with since 1950 has renounced the armistice which they never really observed (ie Cheonan, ax murders, attacking RoK government Officials etc) and made an alliance with the Iranian’s then built missiles to travel far enough to strike the US mainland and the Atomic devices to mate them with in the future. EMP bomb or just tossing one off the coast of San Francisco to send a radioactive cloud of vaporized sea water raining down on that Liberal paradise.
It’s somewhat funny to consider all those who worked so hard to save the environment for the children of the future watching as the environment gets turned into Chernobyl in the sun.
When the NorKs sank the Cheonan and shelled that island with no real repercussions it showed them they could probably hit the US with a nuke and the US would stand and do nothing in fear of angering China.
The NorKs have the entire US to hit, it’s just a matter of where the bomb lands after the missile is shot.
[…] thought I’d follow-up regarding Jonn’s article from last week on the subject. In case anyone was wondering: there’s a good reason it will take until 2017 […]
NORK Update c/o Fox News
D.C., LA, Austin, and Hawaii are reportedly targeted by Kim Jong Un.
Not a bad selection but, really, Hawaii? I suppose that’s to ensure they hit SOMETHING,but if Kerry could work out a Hawaii/San Francisco swap, that would be very helpful. I wonder if anyone has put Jimmah Carter on alert yet.