![[단독] New defensive asset in the US, not Seongju THAAD,’Marine ICBM interceptor missile’](https://file.mk.co.kr/meet/neds/2021/03/image_readtop_2021_238220_16155325904571106.jpg "[단독] New defensive asset in the US, not Seongju THAAD,’Marine ICBM interceptor missile’")
![In November of last year, the US military launched a missile from the Aegis destroyer John Finn to intercept an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The missile succeeded in shooting down the ICBM from outside the atmosphere. This was the first time the U.S. military confirmed its ability to kill offshore ICBMs, and the U.S. Department of Defense and Missile Defense Agency publicized this achievement. [사진 = 미국 미사일방어청]](https://i0.wp.com/file.mk.co.kr/meet/neds/2021/03/image_readtop_2021_238220_16155325904571106.jpg?w=560&ssl=1)
In November of last year, the US military launched a missile from the Aegis destroyer John Finn to intercept an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The missile succeeded in shooting down the ICBM from outside the atmosphere. This was the first time the U.S. military confirmed its ability to kill offshore ICBMs, and the U.S. Department of Defense and Missile Defense Agency publicized this achievement. [사진 = 미국 미사일방어청]In response to North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), it is possible that the newly deployed defense asset this year is a maritime interceptor missile defense system based on the Aegis destroyer rather than the USFK’s high-altitude missile defense system (THAAD, THAAD) in Seongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do. It turned out to be great.
Earlier, on the 10th (local time), USFK Commander Robert Abrams and ROK-US Combined Commander were asked at a hearing on the US military’s strategy in responding to North Korea’s ICBM at a hearing in the US House of Representatives, and said, “The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has three special capabilities. In the process of building, one of them is already here (Korea with USFK), and the other two will come in this year,” he replied shortly.
Yonhap News, a Korean news agency, reported that the remaining two capacity assets would be newly deployed on the Korean Peninsula, giving rise to observations that a similar defense system would be added following THAAD deployed in Seongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do.
However, as a result of securing and grasping the video of the hearing that Maeil Economy posted on the U.S. Department of Defense site and a year of North Korea ICBM response data on the Pentagon site, the new asset mentioned by Commander Abrams is the interceptor missile defense system that will be mounted on the U.S. Aegis ship, John Finn. Appeared to be.
![A conceptual diagram of an ICBM interceptor system based on the Pacific Ocean that was deployed and successfully tested by the US military in November last year. [출처 = 미국 미사일방어청]](https://i0.wp.com/file.mk.co.kr/meet/neds/2021/03/image_readmed_2021_238220_16155325904571107.jpg?w=560&ssl=1)
A conceptual diagram of an ICBM interceptor system based on the Pacific Ocean that was deployed and successfully tested by the US military in November last year. [출처 = 미국 미사일방어청]The U.S. Department of Defense and MDA successfully launched a maritime interceptor on the John Finn from the western Pacific Ocean in November last year and shot it down outside the atmosphere.
The experiment began with the launching of a projectile (the target is Hawaii), which was assumed to have been launched by North Korea, from a US ballistic missile defense training ground on the island of Quay in the Marshall Islands, about 4000 km from Hawaii.
The trajectory and speed of the projectile were captured by the military satellite and the Integrated Missile Defense Operations Center at the Colorado Air Force Base and delivered to the Izusu destroyer John Finn, on the northeast coast of Hawaii. The interceptor missile, fired quickly from John Finn, succeeded in killing the projectile before it re-enters the atmosphere.
The straight line distance between North Korea and Hawaii is about 8000 km, and John Finnho fired an interceptor missile from exactly halfway, suggesting that the test at the time was based on the North Korean ICBM.
MDA and US military media have publicized the results of this experiment on a large scale, saying, “We have the ability to intercept ICBM (North Korea) with a maritime-based interceptor following Alaska’s ground-based interceptor missiles.
![A view of the deck of John Finn, the Aegis destroyer of the 7th Fleet of the United States, which will carry North Korean ICBM interceptor maritime missiles this year The 7th Fleet's operational radius includes the Korean Peninsula. [출처 = 제7함대 홈페이지]](https://i0.wp.com/file.mk.co.kr/meet/neds/2021/03/image_readbot_2021_238220_16155325904571108.jpg?w=560&ssl=1)
A view of the deck of John Finn, the Aegis destroyer of the 7th Fleet of the United States, which will carry North Korean ICBM interceptor maritime missiles this year The 7th Fleet’s operational radius includes the Korean Peninsula. [출처 = 제7함대 홈페이지]Following a successful experiment at the end of last year, this maritime-based interceptor system will be deployed this year as Commander Abrams described it as “come on board.” In this regard, on the 12th, USFK spokesman Peters Lee drew a line to reporters’ questions about the remarks of Commander Abrams, saying, “It does not mean the deployment of new equipment or troops to Korea.”
As a result, the USFK THAAD, which is an already sensitive geopolitical issue, has again made the people uneasy due to speculative articles from a domestic news agency.
Meanwhile, John Finn, a US Navy Aegis ship, equipped with an interceptor missile that will shoot down North Korea’s ICBM at sea, was a member of the 7th Fleet and conducted training through the Taiwan Strait until the 10th. In response, China strongly protested, saying, “It is intentionally causing a security threat.”
The Korean Peninsula is included in the operation radius of the 7th Fleet to which John Finn belongs.
In addition, there are observations that the two new capabilities that Commander Abrams said may be the radar equipment (Spy-7) that the United States has been pressing against Japan in connection with maritime ICBM intercepts.
In a budget analysis report for the 2021 fiscal year published in February of last year, MDA announced that it had failed while coordinating plans to deploy the ground ICBM intercept system in two locations in Japan.
It seems that the division of national opinion over the deployment of Seongju THAAD, which has been observed in the past, has influenced the coordination between the US and Japan.
Since then, the Japanese government seems to have recently coordinated with the United States on a plan to install a maritime intercept system on two Aegis ships that are not ground-based. Japan’s Nihon Geizai Newspaper reported in November last year that “Japan decided to install the latest radar equipment of Lockheed Martin, the Spy-7, in the new Aegis ship.”
Last month, Defense Daily, a defense industry specialist, cited MDA, saying, “The currently installed demo version will be provided to Japan with upgraded software in October this year.” It will bring improvement.”
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