The U.S. and South Korea conducted a precision firing drill in response to North Korea’s earlier intercontinental ballistic missile test Friday.
North Korea tested an ICBM Friday, demonstrating never-before-seen capabilities. The lofted missile flew for 45 minutes, soaring to a maximum altitude of 3,700 kilometers and covering a distance of 1,000 kilometers. Expert observers estimate that the missile, assuming it was fired along a normal trajectory, would have a range somewhere between 10,400 and 11,000 kilometers, putting most of the continental U.S. within striking distance.
The U.S. and South Korea responded to the test with a show of force, just as they did after the last test, while the two sides struggle to come up with a suitable plan to address the threat posed by North Korea’s weapons program, which is progressing much faster than expected.
Watch:
WATCH: Pentagon releases video of US-SKorea live missile firing exercise that was conducted in response to NKorea ICBM launch. pic.twitter.com/T3HjIduyUB
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) July 28, 2017
The Eighth Army and South Korean military personnel fired missiles into South Korea’s territorial waters. The joint military drill involved the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and South Korea’s Hyunmoo Missile II, according to an Office of Strategic Defense press release. The exercise demonstrates “deep-strike precision capability” and the ability “to engage a full array of time-critical targets under all weather conditions.”
North Korea first tested its new Hwasong-14 ICBM on July 4, with experts assessing in the aftermath that the missile could strike Alaska, Hawaii, and parts of the West Coast. The missile tested Friday may have had a more powerful engine, or perhaps the North simply tested its earlier missile at full power to demonstrate the true capabilities of its missile technology.
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