[FPSPACE] Journalist Bill Gertz: US is preparing to intervene (by shooting down) in NK satellite launch attempt

[Peter Pesavento]

The Following news story states an X-band radar has been transported by sea
to the Korean area of operations.

 

http://freebeacon.com/red-alert/

 

Pentagon activates missile defenses for North Korean launch

 

 

By Bill Gertz

 

The Pentagon recently activated its global missile shield in anticipation of
North Korea's launch of a long-range missile, according to defense
officials.

The measures include stepped-up electronic monitoring, deployment of missile
interceptor ships, and activation of radar networks to areas near the Korean
peninsula and western Pacific.

Three interceptor ships near Japan and the Philippines, as well as
U.S.-based interceptors, are ready to shoot down the North Korean missile if
space-, land-, and sea-based sensors determine its flight path is targeted
at the United States or U.S. allies, said officials who spoke on condition
of anonymity.

The Obama administration will regard any launch by North Korea as a
violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions regardless of whether the
North Koreans claim the rocket test is for space launch purposes, the
officials said. The technology and rocketry used for a space launch is
nearly identical to that used with ballistic missiles that carry a warhead,
they said.

Also, because the payload or warhead of the test launch cannot be determined
prior to launch, the Obama administration decided to activate the missile
defense system.

According to U.S. officials, current intelligence assessments indicate the
North Korean missile will be launched from a base called Tongchang-ri,
located on a west coast peninsula north of Pyongyang between April 12 and
April 15.

The missile's first stage could impact in the Yellow Sea near South Korea
and the second stage could land east of the Philippines in the Pacific.

Satellite images published Monday show preparations for the launch are
continuing.

Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. April Cunningham would not say if missile
defenses were activated for the upcoming test.

However, Cunningham said, "North Korea's announcement that it plans to
conduct a long-range missile launch at any time would be in direct violation
of its international obligations."

U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874 "clearly and unequivocally
prohibit North Korea from conducting launches that use ballistic missile
technology," she said.

"Such a missile launch would pose a threat to regional security and would
also be inconsistent with North Korea's recent undertaking to refrain from
long-range missile launches," Cunningham said.

"The U.S. closely monitors threats to international security and has the
capability to respond if and when appropriate."

A U.S. official said the military's large, X-band radar that is based on a
oil-rig-sized floating platform sailed from Honolulu to waters near Korea on
March 26 as part of the activation.

Current U.S. missile defense systems include networks of radar and space
tracking gear, including ground- and sea-based radar, Aegis ships, and
long-range interceptor missiles based in Alaska and California. A total of
30 three-stage interceptors are deployed.

Any decision to shoot down the missile would be made by the president,
officials said.

The missile defense activation was briefly mentioned by Defense Secretary
Leon Panetta on Saturday during a meeting with reporters aboard the Navy
ship USS Peleliu. Asked what military steps were taken to deal with a future
North Korean launch, Panetta said the U.S. has "put whatever assets in place
that we need in order to deal with any contingency."

"We expressed our concern," Panetta said of the upcoming launch. "The
president of the United States made very clear that the North Koreans should
not do this. It is provocative. It's dangerous and it violates the
international law. And so our hope is that they will not do it. But as
always takes place in these kinds of situations, we have to be fully
prepared for any possibility-and we are."

Details of the missile defense deployments are classified. However, defense
officials said the measures include the stationing of three Navy
Aegis-equipped warships around Japan that are equipped with SM-3 missile
interceptors.

The U.S. missile defense deployments are being closely coordinated with
Japan's government and military, which has deployed two Aegis ships armed
with SM-3s, along with Patriot PAC-3 anti-missile batteries around Tokyo.

Japan's concern is that if the missile goes astray or breaks up, it will
target Japanese territory, and the shorter-range defenses will be used to
try and shoot down the debris before impact.

North Korea has announced that it is planning a space launch of a satellite.
But U.S. officials said the missile being readied on a launch pad north of
the capital of Pyongyang appears similar to North Korea's Taepodong-2
intercontinental ballistic missile.

U.S. officials also said that regardless of the configuration, the launch is
likely cover for a missile test since U.N. sanctions prohibit North Korea
from launching missiles.

According to the officials, the initial phases of the U.S. missile defense
activation include stepped-up intelligence gathering by spy satellites and
RC-135 Cobra Ball aircraft based at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan.

Asked for details, a U.S. official would say only that "We've got what we
need to monitor a possible launch."

Cmdr. Leslie Hull-Ryde, a second Pentagon spokeswoman, declined to provide
details on the North Korean launch preparation but said, "We're monitoring
the situation very closely, along with our [Republic of Korea] counterparts,
to ensure the defense of the ROK."

"Through our combined capabilities, we can sufficiently monitor North
Korea's efforts," she said.

Hull-Ryde declined to discuss military operations, plans or intelligence but
said, "We stand ready to defend U.S. territory, our allies and our national
interests."

The last time missile defenses were activated on the current scale was 2009,
when North Korea conducted a test flight of a Taepodong-2 on April 5.

Prior to that launch, also announced by Pyongyang as a space launch, the
Navy deployed two Aegis ships in the Sea of Japan and one Aegis east of
Japan, according to a State Department cable made public by Wikileaks.

Also, in 2009, the military shared ballistic missile data with Japan from
the Shared Early Warning system and the AN/TPY-2 X-band radar located at
Shariki, Aomori, Japan.

The Seventh Fleet and the Japan Maritime Self Defense Forces carried out
aegis ship data sharing.

As the missile was being fueled, U.S. Forces Japan activated a 24/7 Crisis
Action Team with the Japanese military.

U.S. secrecy regarding its missile defense deployments contrasts with
Japan's openness on the issue. Japanese Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka on
March 23 ordered missile defenses prepared for the North Korean launch. The
preparations included Aegis warships and ground-based PAC-3 defenses.

The North Korean missile's likely flight path could take it over Okinawa.

 

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