American scouts believe that North Korea will be able to create an intercontinental ballistic missile as early as 2018. This is reported by The Washington Post and The New York Times with reference to sources in the special services. Earlier in Washington, it was assumed that the DPRK was not able to assemble such a projectile until 2020.
The new assessment is based on the latest tests of North Korean weapons. In this case, we are talking about the launch of the ballistic missile "Hwaseon-14" on July 4,. According to the Ministry of Defense of Japan, it overcame 930 km and reached a height of 2,800. Km.
In Tokyo it is supposed, RT writes, that the rocket was launched on a hinged trajectory and was at the start in an upright position. If it went along the usual trajectory, it could overcome more than 5 thousand. Km.
North Korean short-range and medium-range missiles can now hit any target in South Korea and Japan.
As the Washington Post notes, the previous forecasts regarding the creation of the intercontinental missile by Pyongyang were "too conservative". The latest launch demonstrated that the North Korean ICBM can reach Alaska. To its banks exactly 5 thousand. Km.
Now in the Pentagon it is assumed that the leader of the DPRK Kim Jong-no will receive a "reliable intercontinental ballistic missile with nuclear weapons" in 2018.
"North Korea's plan is running faster than we expected. We did not think that the ICBM will be tested in July, "said one official familiar with the assessment of the US Department of Defense's Intelligence Department (RUMO).
Probably, it is with this that the test of the THAAD system for interception of the medium-range ballistic missile, conducted in Alaska on July 11. The ICBM itself was launched from the northern part of Hawaii.
"The danger is that the time to make a decision is significantly reduced due to the presence of weapons from North Korea, and an escalation of the conflict can occur at any second," the Washington Post quotes John Wolfsthal, the former senior director of the Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Agency.
And on the eve, July 25, it became known that the Americans are preparing on the next Saturday to conduct another test of the missile defense system in order to withstand the threats from Pyongyang.
A spokesman for the Pentagon, navy captain Jeff Davis said that the tests are "routine" to ensure that the system is ready for use, according to "Voice of America".