Why America needs a layered homeland missile defense Vic Mercado January 19 An animation from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency shows the steps involved in intercepting and destroying and intercontinental ballistic missile. Earlier this week, during the 8th congress of the Workers’ Party in Pyongyang, North Korea, as reported by North Korea’s Central News Agency, Kim Jong Un referred to the U.S. as “our biggest enemy” and outlined plans to upgrade the country’s nuclear forces, develop hypersonic weapons and solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, and build the ability to strike targets out to 15,000 kilometers, which would encompass the entire United States.
The 354th Fighter Wing and 168th Wing Air National Guard completed a combat readiness exercise on Friday
The drill tested the Air Forces ability to rapidly deploy combat air power at Eielson Air Base, in Alaska, close to the Arctic Circle
The formation saw eighteen F-35A Lightning IIs plus twelve F-16 Fighting Falcons assigned to the 354th Fighter Wing line the runway. They were accompanied by two KC-135 Stratotankers from the 168th Wing
The formation known as the Elephant Walk tested the rapid response of readiness of every single aircraft present at the base
The Russian military is also known to have recent deployed MiG-31 Foxhound long-range interceptor planes to their base in Anadyr, in the Chukotka region, directly opposite Alaska
Brian Berletic
Russian state media reported a successful test flight of its new hypersonic missile, the Zircon. Flying at Mach 8 (8 times the speed of sound or around 10,000 kph), the missile poses a new and credible threat to the air defense systems of potential aggressors.
Fired from vertical launch tubes on a Russian warship, the missile is capable of striking both targets at sea and on land. This most recent test took place over a range of 350 kilometers, but claims the missile is capable of ranges of up to 1,000 kilometers have been reported.
This would mean that missiles fired from the Mediterranean Sea, for example, could hit virtually any target amid the ongoing Syrian conflict, both within Syria but also in neighboring nations backing militants fighting against the Syrian government and its Russian allies.
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