Japan, U.S., S. Korea dispatch destroyers to track N. Korean missile

[TomCADem]

Source: The Asahi Shinbun

Japan, the United States and South Korea will deploy seven radar-equipped ships in the Sea of Japan to monitor, and possibly destroy, any ballistic missiles launched by North Korea.

The ships are all equipped with the Aegis Combat System, a weapons array that uses computers and radar to track and guide weapons to destroy enemy targets.

Japan dispatched two destroyers of the Maritime Self-Defense Force to the Sea of Japan by April 9. The U.S. Navy also sent three Aegis destroyers not only to waters near Japan, but also in the vicinity of Guam to protect that U.S. territory.

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One U.S. Aegis destroyer has been sent near the waters of Guam, while another is being deployed off the eastern coast of the Shimokita Peninsula in northern Japan.



Read more: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/asia/korean_peninsula/AJ201304090084

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I think North Korea has backed itself into a corner where it needs to engage in some hostile act that only causes minimal loss of life without triggering a larger war. Things may be a bit too tense for North Korea to simply shell a remote South Korean town to kill a few random individuals as it did in 2010:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/11/23/us-korea-north-artillery-idUSTRE6AM0YS20101123

So, it will be interesting to see what North Korea does to show that it really does mean business without actually triggering a wider war.

[ReRe]

1. Wonder where China is in the mix? n/t

[Nanjing to Seoul]

3. Xi Jinping just announced he cannot truly support NK. Chinese military wants nothing to do with it

Chinese people want Kim dead and the leeches that bite the hands that feed them expunged. NK is alone!

[ReRe]

5. Who are the leeches?

[Nanjing to Seoul]

8. To the Chinese, North Korea are the leeches.

[Mnemosyne]

2. Interesting misleading wording in the headline. It implies they are tracking one already, imho. nt

[ReRe]

4. If they say they are "dispatching"...

... in USA-speak, that means everyone is in their place out there in the water, just waiting for North Korea to give them something to track and go boom with. IMHO, of course.

[Mnemosyne]

6. Hope this fizzles out and no damn 'accidents' happen. Are they actually going to do this, do you

think? Un is wacky, but geez.

[ReRe]

7. I'm not a betting man, but...

... I think we (the USA) just said "Make my day, you little prick." No?

[Mnemosyne]

11. Hoping young Un isn't as stupid as he acts, but doubtful. nt

[ReRe]

13. I think he has just joined...

... the annual war exercises that the US and SK are involved in.

[jimmil]

9. I worked on the Aegis system a while back..

And the card we are playing is not an Ace or a trump card. To track and kill a missile in flight has never been done in real combat. It's our bluff against his bluff. However, it's our game and we can end it in few seconds. How many million people dead do you want?

[Lurks Often]

10. They've made significant upgrades to the Aegis system

IIRC, they were getting better then 85% hit rates in tests and doctrine would be to fire 2 missiles at each inbound target

[hack89]

12. It was a ship with an Aegis system that shot down that satellite several years ago

Aegis has never stopped evolving.

[Old Troop]

14. My Thought

North Korea may or may not have the ability to stuff a nuclear warhead onto a ballistic or other missile.
If they can, the guidance of the missile is questionable and the possibility that the warhead will remain functional and detonate is low as well.
Is there the chance that they may put a nuclear weapon in the hold of a ship registered in, say, Singapore and sail it into Pusan, Nagasaki, or Los Angeles and detonate it? Why not?