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Defense News, "U.S. Develops Missile Targeting N.K.’s Nuclear Facilities
The U.S. army is reported to have developed a missile capable of destroying North Korea’s suspected underground facilities of nuclear weapons. This new missile, according to a U.S. defense weekly, will first be deployed with U.S. forces stationed in South Korea, to bring about changes to the security situation on the Korean peninsula. American defense weekly, the Defense News says the U.S. army has successfully test-fired a missile that is designed to target North Korea’s possible hidden nuclear weapons and facilities. In its Monday edition, Defense News reported, the new missile has been upgraded in its penetration ability to better detonate hidden targets. Quoting words from U.S. Department of Defense officials, it says U.S. forces serving in South Korea will be the first to be equipped with six of these missiles, when its development program ends in a year.

When discharged from an aircraft, the missile is apparently capable of penetrating hundreds of meters below ground in a second to instantly destroy the underground target with its warhead. The Defense News weekly says although the U.S. army has been mum on the exact target of this new missile, the general consensus is that North Korea is probably its main focus. It adds, with the possession of such weapons, the United States has secured a strategic upper hand in negotiations with North Korea as it is locked in a 21-month-old standoff over Pyongyang¡¯s nuclear ambitions.
Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-07-15
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=38099