Do you think North Korea is a threat?

CNN’s new poll shows that Americans consider North Korea the biggest threat to US security and that 52 percent consider North Korea to be a “very serious threat.”

What do you think?

South Korea Bolstering Defenses

In a move to help strengthen its missile defense, South Korea is set to acquire 40 American made Aegis missiles. The missiles will be fitted on a Korean Navy Aegis vessel later this month. The move comes as North Korea continues to test short range ballistic missiles in the region. There are also increased worries that North Korea is planning a longer range ballistic missile test later this month.

These surface-to-air missiles are designed to track and destroy incoming missiles and have a range of about 100 miles.

Missile Defense: A History (Part 2: 1946-1950)

We will be running a series on the history of missile defense. Today’s covers the political climate of the post-World War II era.

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When World War II ended in September 1945, the United States of America was the most powerful economic and military country in the world. It was the sole possessor of the mighty atom bomb, in possession of the most advance conventional weapon systems in the world and the world power that was the least affected by the destruction of four dramatic years of fighting. The US, confident that peace would reign in the world for at least a decade, started demobilized its massive armed force apparatus and curtails the development of new weapon systems. World events changed all this very quickly. The wartime military relationship that existed between America and the Soviet Union promptly soured. In the years that followed the end of the war, the Soviet regime moved to consolidate its hold on the countries of Eastern Europe. It did not stop there. The Soviets wanted to spread communism to all parts of the globe.

After Eastern Europe, they planned to move towards Asia. In America, the US Armed Forces continued their downsizing in 1946 despite the increasing evidence that Russia was continuing to build its military forces. During the early years of World War II, the Soviet Union was forced to move most of its industrial base outside their capital, Moscow. As a result, by mid to late 1940s, it possessed a large, albeit crude, military complex. The Soviets started a hasty program to develop new weapon systems to increase their already massive land and air forces. Gathering information from espionage activities around the world, their own scientific research data and capture of German scientist, the Soviet Union was by mid 1946 in a full rearmament mode. In the meantime, their leaders were moving promptly toward securing the country’s position as an equal to that of the United States. Political and military leaders in the West watched these disturbing developments within their former allied with uneasiness.

In March 1946 former wartime British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, gave a powerful and prophetic speech at Westminster Collage stating that: “from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an Iron Curtain has descended across Europe”. He was right of curse. Tension increased when on October 23^rd, 1947, American intelligence officials noted the existence of a high number of Soviet made Tu-4 “Bull” bombers. The Bull was a textbook case of reverse-engineering – a copy of the huge Boeing B-29 bomber. The Soviets got their hands on a few example of the B-29 when the planes crash landed in Soviet territory after sustaining damages during bombings runs over Japan late in the war. These bombers gave the Soviet Union for the first time the ability to hit targets in continental America. By the beginning of 1948, all but the essential communication links between the one-time allied had ceased. Then on the morning of April 1^st, 1948, the Soviets closed all land access to the divided city of Berlin, deep behind the Soviet Occupation Zone. The land blockade lasted until September 30^th, 1949; three days after President Harry Truman informed a stunning nation that the Russian had succeeded in exploding an atom bomb ending the short-lived United State monopoly on nuclear weapons. All these developments, occurring in such a short times span, prompted concern about the ability of the US Armed Forces to defense the homeland.

In 1947, The United States government proceeded to make one of the most overwhelming reorganizations of its political and military structure. The War Department, stabled since the incorporation of the Colonies, was replaced with the new Department of Defense. The Army retained all of its ground forces, the Navy retained their assets, but the air arm of the Army became a separated service, the newly and independent military service was the US Air Force. As soon as the new Air Force enters service, it started to flex its political power. It was often at odds with the Army brass over the control of nuclear weapons systems as well as who should be in control of the country’s air defenses. As the 1940s passed and the 1950s began, US weapons development systems were in constant turmoil because of the inter service rivalry that was forming between the three services. Both the Army and the Air Force fought feverishly for control over the development and deployment of a surface-to-air missile system, and the three services sought to develop independently long range ballistic missile programs.

RColon

For more on the history of missile defense, including legislation, see the MDAA website

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North Korea belligerence continues with more tests (updatedx2)

More missile tests in North Korea this morning (US morning) and just added a second rounds of tests in the past hour and then a fourth. Just over a month ago North Korea tested a nuclear weapon and some short range missiles. In April, it tested a long range missile. Now, it has tested two short range missiles. They aren’t missiles capable of threatening the U.S., but they represent one more sign of North Korea’s instability and unwillingness to cooperate.

For weeks now, there have been comments that North Korea will launch a long range missile toward Hawaii on July 4th. That may still happen, with these tests the opening salvo.

The tests represent more than just North Korea’s defiance of the desires of the rest of the world. China has been working recently to get talks going again with U.S, Russia, North Korea, Japan, and South Korea. At the time of the test, North Korea and South Korea had just ended an unsuccessful discussion on an industrial issue.  North Korea is trying to again use its missiles as a sign of strength at the bargaining table.

But by this point, these tests represent the internal politics as well. Kim Jong-Il just named his photo-less 26-year-old son as his successor. Rumors about the leaders health have been circulating for the past nine months. He is demonstrating that he has the strength and the willingness to keep North Korea as an important player internationally. If North Korea loses relevance, he loses some control. There’s been rumors of some willingness to undercut the leader.

By defying the world, Kim Jong-Il is shoring up his control. These tests today do not represent a threat to most countries, but they represent a desire to threaten. North Korea knows China is trying to bring people back to the table, and yet it openly demonstrates military power. “Look what I can do,” Kim Jong Il says with these launches. How will the world respond? There are new sanctions. North Korea has made powerful threatening comments referring to those sanctions. What else is there to do? We protect what we can and then what?

Update: North Korea tested a third short range missile

Update: The final number, according to a South Korean paper, is four missile tests on the day.

Military Tests Minuteman III

In the early hours of June 29^th the military tested a Minuteman III into the Pacific Ocean. The launch was a planned test to verify the systems reliability and accuracy. The missile traveled almost 4,200 miles at speeds near 24,000 mph landing near the Marshall Islands.

Colonel David Buck who oversaw the test said, “”These are dangerous times we’re living in right now. It’s extremely important our combatant commander has the capabilities he needs to perform the mission of fighting and winning our nation’s wars. Testing an operational asset pulled from the missile field at Minot provides us confidence our weapon system is capable of performing when needed.”

The Minuteman III is an American land based nuclear capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with a range of around 8,100 miles. Since it entered service 1970 it has been a component of the American nuclear triad deterrent. It is estimated that there are around 450 Minutemen III in the American arsenal.

Kuwait Upgrading Missile Defense

Raytheon announced that it has been awarded a $36.1 million Army contract to equip Kuwait with Patriot Missile upgrades. The upgrades will focus on modernizing the interceptors to Configuration-3 and will also include training and other related services.

This upgrade comes a year after Raytheon received a $148 million dollar contract to upgrade Kuwait’s Patriot missile defenses. The Patriot Missiles were originally purchased in 2007 as part of a $20 billion comprehensive effort by Kuwait to bolster its overall defense posture.

Raytheon employs 72,000 people and reported a 2008 net income of $1.7 billion on $23.2 billion revenue.