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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Sources: North Korea tests missiles |
| 2006-07-04 |
| Tuesday, July 4, 2006; Posted: 4:31 p.m. EDT (20:31 GMT) WASHINGTON (CNN) -- North Korea tested at least two missiles early Wednesday but has not fired the long-range Taepodong-2 rocket Western observers suspect has been readied for launch, U.S. sources told CNN. Both missiles were launched from a site other than the one intelligence officials have watched for weeks ahead of a possible long-range missile test, a senior State Department official said. Two senior U.S. State Department officials said Tuesday that fuel trucks had departed the site where the long-range missile sits on a launching pad, indicating that a test might be near. The removal of the fuel trucks and other auxiliary equipment meant the North Koreans may have finished fueling the missile, said the officials, who did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the information. Should the North Koreans have completed the fueling "all they would need to do now is press the button," one of the sources said. But both officials said no hard evidence points to a launch coming soon. "It's the Fourth of July, and they know we are watching and they like to play with us," said one official, who has followed the North Korean program for years. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #12 Forget airborne laser - we should all be thinking shipboard laser, as with the Navy test program with a high-powered laser added to a fleet destroyer. I'm sure a test of that beauty would also cause a bit of damage. Also, a nice microwave-frequency weapon would do the same thing by "encouraging" failure among valves, pipes, and other metal parts that could be induced to vibrate. There are so many choices of research weaponry the NORKS will never know which one we used, or how successful it was. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-07-04 20:46 |
| #11 I have heard very little about the current status of the Airborne Laser. The type of failure that happened is exactly what this system would produce. |
| Posted by: Patrick 2006-07-04 20:00 |
| #10 Whatever the *actual* reason for failure -- we should claim we did it to them. |
| Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) 2006-07-04 18:28 |
| #9 When it was on the pad they fueled it way early. This raised eyebrows because the stuff is just a biatch to siphon off if you don't launch, and is so corrosive that you had better not leave it in the missile for any length of time. Maybe the Nkors were in a "use it or lose it" situation, and by the time they shot, it had corroded to the point where it failed. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-07-04 18:14 |
| #8 If there's any way we can claim credit, it would really reduce the attractiveness for export of the TPD-2. It would be nice to nip Kimmie market. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-07-04 17:59 |
| #7 LOX is far too sophisticated for their engines. Likely red fuming nitric acid and UDMH. |
| Posted by: john 2006-07-04 17:46 |
| #6 NK has about 1000 SCUD and larger types. They can spare a few to wish us a Happy July 4th. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-07-04 17:45 |
| #5 Nimble: Maybe it would have better effect just to neither confirm nor deny knowing or not knowing anything about how North Korea's stupid Big Dong missile prematurely fizzled out! :-) I suppose this thing is full of LOX or something. Should it be generating a plume of evaporated fuel? Is it? |
| Posted by: grb 2006-07-04 17:42 |
| #4 Decoys to distract, maneuver our of position our elint assets. Also possibly to attract BMD activity. Apparently the Taepodong was launched and broke up. Hope we assisted in that. In any case, we should claim credit. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-07-04 17:34 |
| #3 Now Drudge is reporting a fourth missile? What the hell is going on over there? Is Kimmie celebrating the 4th of July or what? |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-07-04 17:17 |
| #2 Bet there's some Navy guys and others whooping it up on a boat right now. Let's hope we get to it before the Norks do. The game is on for some folks right now. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-07-04 17:11 |
| #1 CNN is now reporting that a third missile, theTaepodong 2 was launched also but busted up in mid flight(intercepted?). |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-07-04 17:07 |