The United States plans to test its first anti- intercontinental ballistic missile defense system this week, defense officials announced.
The test is set for Tuesday, according to the announcement by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, Reuters reported Saturday.
An interceptor from California’s Vandenburg Air Force Base will be used to neutralize an ICBM-like target over the Pacific Ocean, according to the Missile Defense Agency. There are 36 such bases in California and Alaska.
If successful, it will be the first time the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system has been used to intercept an ICBM.
In the past, the system, managed by Boeing, has been used to intercept other types of missiles.
The test is being carried out because North Korea is continuing its drive toward developing an ICBM capable of reaching the continental United States.
Last Tuesday, the head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, Vincent Stewart, said at a Senate hearing that Pyongyang is still “years away” from being able to master such a goal, but that if left unchecked North Korea would nevertheless indeed be able to obtain a nuclear-armed missile capable of reaching United States territory.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised the test of a new anti-aircraft guided weapon system on Sunday, according to a statement by the nation’s KCNA news agency.
“Kim Jong Un … watched the test of a new type of anti-aircraft guided weapon system organized by the Academy of National Defense Science,” the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in its release Sunday.
“This weapon system, whose operation capability has been thoroughly verified, should be mass-produced to deploy all over the country … so as to completely spoil the enemy’s wild dream to command the air, boasting of air supremacy and weapon almighty,” the statement continued.
Kim Jong Un was accompanied by Ri Pyong Chol, a former top air force general; Kim Jong Sik, a veteran rocket scientist; and Jang Chang Ha, the head of the Academy of National Defense Science, a weapons development and procurement center.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman has warned that Israel could find itself in the line of fire between the United States and North Korea if the two engage in a military confrontation.
North Korea has also continued to collaborate with Iran on weapons and nuclear technology, while Iran meanwhile continues to arm its proxy terrorist groups in the Middle East, all of which have vowed to annihilate the State of Israel, as has Iran itself.