After U.S. shoots down ICBM, can Western Washington feel safe?
May 31, 2017, 12:19 PM
The U.S. military accomplished an incredible technological feat on Tuesday. For the first time, the military intercepted and blew up a test ballistic missile.
Does that mean we can feel safe from anything North Korea fire at us?
Military Analyst Major Mike Lyons told Seattle’s Morning News it’s a start, but not enough to fully protect us.
“It does show we have the capability to shoot out a single missile if it’s coming toward the United States based on certain technologies that we have,” he said. “This was somewhat of a canned experiment.”
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The system could encourage Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, to order more than one missile strike against the U.S., Lyons said.
“It will make [Kim Jong-un] think that if he wants to attack the U.S. he will have to do so in a manner that will overwhelm any defense missile system, and that’s easily based on the fact of sheer numbers.”
Lyons calls the missile defense technology a “first line” of defense.
“… it could cause [Kim Jon-un] to launch 10-12 missiles at us.”
What is more comforting, at least for now, is that North Korea has yet to prove it has the capability to hit the U.S. with a ballistic missile, according to Lyons. That is unless the country can sneak a submarine past America’s defense system.
