A senior North Korean official has issued a stern warning to the world that it should
take "literally" his country's threat to test a nuclear weapon above ground.
The official, Ri Yong Pil, told CNN in an exclusive conversation in Pyongyang that the
threat made by North Korea's foreign minister last month should not be dismissed.
North Korea "has always brought its words into action," Ri said, visibly angry.
The forceful rhetoric from Pyongyang had come earliet after Trump threatened to"totally
destroy" North Korea in a speech to the UN General Assembly.
Kim's foreign minister had told reporters in New York that Pyongyang could launch a
nuclear missile test in response.
"This could probably mean the strongest hydrogen bomb test over the Pacific Ocean.
As the situation escalates , Defense Updates look at America's Minuteman III missile,
a single one of which can destroy entire North Korea.
The Minuteman family of missiles has served as the backbone of the U.S. land-based nuclear
strategic force since 1962.
In 1955, the Soviet Union successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, and in 1957 it launched the
Sputnik satellite, surpassing the United States in rocket technology.
Fearing that the Soviet Union had the ability to attack the United States with intercontinental
ballistic missiles (ICBM), the United States made development of a reliable, rapid-response
ballistic missile the highest priority.
On Feb. 27, 1958, the U.S. Air Force received approval from the Department of Defense to
begin research and development on the new missile designated Weapon System 133-A, called
the "Minuteman."
On Oct. 9, 1958, the Air Force announced its selection of Boeing as assembly and test contractor
for the Minuteman missile.
The weapon is tasked primarily with the deterrence role, threatening Soviet cities with a second
strike counter value counterattack if the U.S. was attacked
However, with the development of the U.S. Navy's Polaris which addressed the same role,
the Air Force began to modify Minuteman into a weapon with much greater accuracy with the
specific intent of allowing it to attack hardened military targets, including Soviet missile
silos.
The Minuteman III began development in 1964 and entered service in 1970.
Its command and control lies with the Air Force Global Strike Command.
Minuteman III is designed to be launched from missile silos.
A missile silo is a vertical cylindrical structure constructed underground, for the storage and
launching of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).The structures typically have the
missile some distance below ground, protected by a large "blast door" on top.
They are usually connected, physically and/or electronically, to a missile launch control centre.
Minuteman-III missiles are regularly tested with launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base
in order to validate the effectiveness, readiness, and accuracy of the weapon system, as well
as to support the system's primary purpose, nuclear deterrence.It has nearly 100 percent
reliability.Minuteman-III missiles have also been improved over the decades, with more
than $7 billion spent in the last decade to upgrade the 450 missiles.
For example, the original inertial navigation system provided it with an accuracy of about
200 m Circular Error Probable (CEP), but an updated inertial guidance system gives it
120 m CEP.
This basically means the missile can be targeted with near pinpoint accuracy even at long distances.
Minuteman III has three-stage solid-fuel rocket engines.
The first stage is Thiokol TU-122, second stage is Aerojet-General SR-19-AJ-1 and third
stage is Aerojet/Thiokol SR73-AJ/TC-1.Solid-fuel missile can stand ready for extended periods
of time with little maintenance.
Hence these can be launched on command without needing preperation.
President of the United States authorize a nuclear attack from fixed command centers,
such as the White House Situation Room or also through 'Nuclear Football'.
The nuclear football is a briefcase, that contains codes which can be used by the President
of the United States to authorize a nuclear attack while away from fixed command centers.
The president is always accompanied by a military aide carrying the "football".
So, the missile can be launched any time and under any circumstances.
Minuteman series of missile gained range with incremental version with Minuteman III acknowledged
to have an operational range of 13,000 km (8,100 miles) though the exact range is classified.As
per many analysts the missile actually can travel as far as 16,000 km depending up the
warhead configuration.
A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) is a ballistic missile payload
containing several warheads, each capable of being aimed to hit a different target.MIRV
allows separately targeted nuclear warheads to be sent on their independent ways after
the main propulsion stages of the missile launch have shut down.
This technology is very complex and greatly increases the destructive power of a missile.
Minuteman III was the first true MIRV capable missile.
It can carry a maximum of 3 warheads and these can be independently targeted against 3 different
locations
It carries W78 or W87 warhead.
The W78 thermonuclear warhead is the warhead used on most of the United States LGM-30G
Minuteman III missiles.
The W78 has a publicly announced yield of 335–350 kilotons of TNT.
The W87 is an improvement on W78 , its design includes all modern safety features.
The original yield of the W87 was 300 kilotons of TNT, but has the announced ability to be
upgraded to a yield of 475 kilotons.
So a single missile is capable of unleashing destructive power of around 1000 to 1400 kt
of TNT.
To give viewer a perspective, Little Boy atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima had a yield of 15
kt of TNT and Fat Man atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki had a yield of 21
kt of TNT.
As can be very well understood, a single Minuteman III missile will be able to destroy entire
North Korea.
Importantly North Korea has no Anti Missile Defense systems and hence if U.S decides to
use Minuteman III, it will have no way to defend against it.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét