MINUTEMAN III: A SINGLE ONE OF WHICH CAN DESTROY ENTIRE NORTH KOREA

INTRODUCTION

A senior North Korean official has issued a stern warning to the world that it should take "literally" his country's threat to test a nuclear weapon above ground.

The official, Ri Yong Pil, told CNN in an exclusive conversation in Pyongyang that the threat made by North Korea's foreign minister last month should not be dismissed. North Korea “has always brought its words into action," Ri said, visibly angry.

The forceful rhetoric from Pyongyang had come earliet after Trump threatened to”totally destroy” North Korea in a speech to the UN General Assembly.
Kim’s foreign minister had told reporters in New York that Pyongyang could launch a nuclear missile test in response. "This could probably mean the strongest hydrogen bomb test over the Pacific Ocean.

As the situation escalates , Defense Updates look at America’s Minuteman III missile, a single one of which can destroy entire North Korea.
BACKGROUND & LAUNCH PLATFORM

The Minuteman family of missiles has served as the backbone of the U.S. land-based nuclear strategic force since 1962.

On Feb. 27, 1958, the U.S. Air Force received approval from the Department of Defense to begin research and development on the new missile designated Weapon System 133-A, called the “Minuteman.”

On Oct. 9, 1958, the Air Force announced its selection of Boeing as assembly and test contractor for the Minuteman missile.

The Minuteman III began development in 1964 and entered service in 1970. Its command and control lies with the Air Force Global Strike Command.

HIGHLY ACCURATE & ALWAYS READY
Minuteman-III missiles are regularly tested with launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base in order to validate the effectiveness, readiness, and accuracy of the weapon system, as well as to support the system's primary purpose, nuclear deterrence.It has nearly 100 percent reliability.Minuteman-III missiles have also been improved over the decades, with more than $7 billion spent in the last decade to upgrade the 450 missiles. For example, the original inertial navigation system provided it with an accuracy of about 200 m Circular Error Probable (CEP), but an updated inertial guidance system gives it 120 m CEP.

This basically means the missile can be targeted with near pinpoint accuracy even at long distances.

Minuteman III has three-stage solid-fuel rocket engines. The first stage is Thiokol TU-122, second stage is Aerojet-General SR-19-AJ-1 and third stage is Aerojet/Thiokol SR73-AJ/TC-1.Solid-fuel missile can stand ready for extended periods of time with little maintenance.

Hence these can be launched on command without needing preperation.

President of the United States authorize a nuclear attack from fixed command centers, such as the White House Situation Room or also through 'Nuclear Football'. The nuclear football is a briefcase, that contains codes which can be used by the President of the United States to authorize a nuclear attack while away from fixed command centers. The president is always accompanied by a military aide carrying the "football".
So, the missile can be launched any time and under any circumstances.
RANGE
Minuteman series of missile gained range with incremental version with Minuteman III acknowledged to have an operational range of 13,000 km (8,100 miles) though the exact range is classified.As per many analysts the missile actually can travel as far as 16,000 km depending up the warhead configuration.
MIRV CAPABLE WITH POWERFUL WARHEADS

A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) is a ballistic missile payload containing several warheads, each capable of being aimed to hit a different target.MIRV allows separately targeted nuclear warheads to be sent on their independent ways after the main propulsion stages of the missile launch have shut down. This technology is very complex and greatly increases the destructive power of a missile.

Minuteman III was the first true MIRV capable missile. It can carry a maximum of 3 warheads and these can be independently targeted against 3 different locations

It carries W78 or W87 warhead. The W78 thermonuclear warhead is the warhead used on most of the United States LGM-30G Minuteman III missiles. The W78 has a publicly announced yield of 335–350 kilotons of TNT.

The W87 is an improvement on W78 , its design includes all modern safety features.
The original yield of the W87 was 300 kilotons of TNT, but has the announced ability to be upgraded to a yield of 475 kilotons.

So a single missile is capable of unleashing destructive power of around 1000 to 1400 kt of TNT.

As can be very well understood, a single Minuteman III missile will be able to destroy entire North Korea.

Importantly North Korea has no Anti Missile Defense systems and hence if U.S decides to use Minuteman III, it will have no way to defend against it.

"Audio by Scott Leffler -- scottleffler.com"

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