In a launch that may be seen from the Los Angeles area, U.S. Air Force officials at Vandenberg Air Force Base today will send up a ground-based interceptor to shoot down a simulated incoming warhead. It’s a drill designed to prepare for any North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile strike. Officials at Vandenberg said the interceptor will be launched between noon and 4 p.m. The interceptor’s launch is expected to be visible from the Los Angeles area, but not so any collision between the missile and the simulated warhead over the Pacific.
The test was planned in response to what are regarded as provocations by North Korea, which, as of last week, has carried out three missile tests in three weeks.
The most recent North Korean test involved a short-range ballistic missile that traveled about 250 miles before splashing down in Japan’s “exclusive economic zone” near the coast. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to deploy a nuclear-armed missile capable of reaching American territory. The North Koreans have not yet tested an intercontinental ballistic missile but are believed to be planning to.
City News Service
