Is a missile test a provocative action?

[Buster's Uncle]

No idea.

[Rusty Edge]

. . .

Uh huh.  And the timing?

Sure seems provocative.

[Unorthodox]

So let's just say someone theoretically had an idea this was happening long before this thread was made.  Like the timing was made a year ago.


And perhaps there's another coming up?


What are the odds NK will do something between now and the next?  Thus it will appear as another response to NK?

[Geo]

What are the odds NK will do something between now and the next?  Thus it will appear as another response to NK?

What are the odds some AEGIS destroyer near North Korea's eastern territorial waters will attempt to intercept the next test missile?

[Spacy]

I am just wondering how much of it was the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing?

[Unorthodox]

I'm starting to think it's NK and our government just playing a GAME.  I'm pretty sure we KNOW when their tests are going to happen, and they know when OURS are, they just take turns acting outraged over them. 

NK right on schedule:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-idUSKBN17U2XB

[Unorthodox]

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/610834/us-test-icbm-minuteman-missil-north-korea

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/799564/US-military-fires-ballistic-missile-nuclear-test-North-Korea-World-War-3

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4469220/America-test-fires-nuclear-capable-ICBM.html

The US news hasn't woken up yet. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Missile launched from California coast in a 'nuclear deterrent' test, Air Force says
Los Angeles Times
Veronica Rocha  5 hrs ago



© RINGO CHIU/AFP/Getty Images) Photographers take pictures of a streak of light trailing off into the night sky as the US military test fires an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at Vandenberg Air Force Base, some 130 miles (209…

 
LOS ANGELES — An unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile was launched Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base to test the weapon's reliability and ensure an "effective nuclear deterrent," according to the U.S. Air Force.

The Minuteman III missile test launch occurred at 12:02 a.m. PDT from the base northwest of Santa Barbara, according to Air Force Global Strike Command. The missile, equipped with a single-test re-entry vehicle, traveled 4,200 miles to a test range near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

"These test launches verify the accuracy and reliability of the ICBM weapon system, providing valuable data to ensure a continued safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent," the strike command said in a statement.

The launch was conducted by the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, the 576th Flight Test Squadron and Vandenberg's 30th Space Wing team, the Air Force said.

"It's efforts like these that make nuclear deterrence effective," Col. Craig Ramsey, commander of the 576th Flight Test Squadron, said in a statement.

Vandenberg Air Force Base and the 576th Flight Test Squadron have been preparing for the operational test launch for the last 10 months, Col. Chris Moss, Vandenberg's 30th Space Wing commander, said in a statement. The 341st Missile Wing is one of three missile bases overseeing the country's intercontinental ballistic missile forces.

Before its launch, the Minuteman III missile was pulled randomly from a silo at Malmstrom and transported to Vandenberg, where it was reassembled, according to the Air Force.

Air Force Global Strike Command said data collected from test launches are used for "continuing force development evaluation." Test launches demonstrate the capability of the Minuteman missile system as well as ensure "the United States' ability to maintain a strong, credible nuclear deterrent as a key element of U.S. national security and the security of U.S. allies and partners," the strike command said.

The Minuteman III missile has been in service for 60 years, but it has been upgraded with improved targeting and enhanced accuracy systems, the Air Force said.

The test is the second missile launched from the base in a week.

Another test was conducted by the Air Force Global Strike Command's team April 26. Air Force officials said that launch was an operational test to show the country's nuclear deterrent capability.

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Santa Barbara, has criticized the timing and the Air Force's motives for both launches. The organization has said the launches come amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.

On Friday, North Korea's military launched a ballistic missile hours after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on the U.N. Security Council to impose new economic sanctions against the country. The weapon apparently crashed nearby or in waters just offshore.

North Korea has stepped up its missile testing in recent weeks, having launched at least seven short- and mid-range projectiles this year.

Wednesday's test is the third ICBM launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base this year.

The other test missile was launched in February. That missile, equipped with a nonexplosive payload, also traveled to a test range in Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

[Unorthodox]

https://news.google.com/news/story/dmeNaHdPPKAU4tMvfW4_7K6mcwu_M?ned=us&hl=en

Actually brought the kids in for the show last night. 

After the last 3 launches have followed my advice, they had a newb MC and didn't do any of the bells and whistles I had worked so hard to bring to these shows. 

[Rusty Edge]

 I find the language of the demagogues today more provocative than the tests.

I really want to give them both time outs.

[Geo]

I find the language of the demagogues today more provocative than the tests.

I really want to give them both time outs.

I want to put both of them in the corner. With donkey ears on their heads.

[Bearu]

The presence of the aggressive American military action in the region represents the sole purpose for existence of the North Korean missile arsenal. If the Americans would simply refuse to participate in the escalation of the conflict, then the people would not need to resort into the application of a violent solution or the threats of a violent solution. The people simply desire peace, but the North Koreans would defend their homeland from the imperialist paper tigers known as the United States of America because the country represents a buffer between the imperialist expansion of the American sphere into the Asian continent.

[Unorthodox]

Uh huh. 

Anyway, I've had this theory for a while.  Things REALLY aren't that different with NK than they've been.  But the press (and to some extent [Sleezebag]) is MAKING them SEEM more dire.  What if it's all a show to sell congress/the public on some new weapons?


http://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-pentagon-gbsd-idUSKCN1B12H3?il=0

[Geo]

New Minuteman's can't be ordered instead? It's not like other types of ICBM's in the world are inheritantly better?

[Rusty Edge]

I'd like to hope that the two authoritarians are simply posing to gain support for more control and approval to spend on defense in time of danger.

But I'm worried that they may go back to playing Cuban Missile Crisis high stakes poker, with every gesture a mortal peril to everyone on the planet except themselves.