Friday, April 5, 2013

US sends missile defenses to Guam over North Korea threat

By: Phil Stewart and David Alexander, Reuters

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon said on Wednesday it was sending an advanced ballistic missile defense system to Guam in the coming weeks, as US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel cited a "real and clear" danger from North Korea.

North Korea has singled out US military bases in Guam, a US territory in the Pacific, and Hawaii among its potential targets in threats in recent weeks that have put the Korean peninsula on edge and triggered a change in the US defense posture and missile defense planning.

"Some of the actions they've taken over the last few weeks, present a real and clear danger," Hagel told an audience at the National Defense University in Washington.

He said those actions had threatened the interests of South Korea and Japan, but he also cited their direct threats against Guam, Hawaii and West Coast of the United States.

Shortly after Hagel spoke, the Pentagon said it was deploying a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), which includes a truck-mounted launcher, interceptor missiles, an AN/TPY-2 tracking radar and an integrated fire control system.

The THAAD can pinpoint an enemy missile launch, track the projectile and launch an interceptor to bring it down.

"The United States remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and stands ready to defend US territory, our allies, and our national interests," a Pentagon spokeswoman said.

The news that the ground-based system would be in place in the coming weeks came after two Aegis anti-missile destroyers were sent to the western Pacific to intercept any North Korean strike against US or allied targets.

Guam is a US island territory 2,100 miles (3,380 kilometers) southeast of North Korea in the Pacific Ocean and is home to 6,000 American military personnel, including Marines and submarine and bomber crews. (With a report from Agence France-Presse)

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