The United States on Sunday conducted a “successful” a test of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, military officials said. According to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, a U.S. Air Force plane fired a ballistic missile over the Pacific Ocean in Alaska and it was then intercepted by the system.
This test was the 15th success in 15 trials for THAAD since 2005, when they system began operational testing. Sunday’s test comes weeks after the system’s first-ever successful intercept test against an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) target.
Despite the proximity of these two recent THAAD tests to successive North Korean ballistic missile launches, the MDA had long accounted for this type of testing in the 2017 fiscal year. Additionally, THAAD has no capability against the missiles North Korea demonstrated on July 4 and July 28, both of which were intercontinental-range ballistic missiles.
The United States has deployed THAAD in South Korea, with the launchers arriving in the country in early May 2017, despite sharp opposition from China, which sees the X-band AN/TPY-2 radar associated with the system as a threat to its security.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.