Is the United States Falling Behind the North Korean ICBM Threat? Congress Needs Answers.
Is the United States doing everything it reasonably can to protect the homeland against North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)? This is a question that should be on the mind of every member of Congress. “Defending the homeland” and “deterring strategic attacks against the United States” literally are the first two stated priorities in the 2022 National Defense Strategy, yet the United States devotes less than 1 percent of the defense budget toward stopping the strategic threat posed by an incoming ICBM. If left unaddressed, the North Korean ICBM threat may soon outpace U.S. homeland defenses—begging the question: How can the United States leave itself vulnerable to a destitute country with less than 1 percent of the economic power of the United States?
North Korea’s ICBM program, decades in the making, has been showing dramatic progress in recent years. After launching satellites on ICBM-class rockets periodically since the 1990s and developing new missiles of regional range, it began testing mobile ICBMs with three launches in 2017. In 2020, it unveiled a much larger mobile ICBM, clearly large enough to carry multiple re-entry vehicles and decoys, which it began flight-testing in 2022. More ICBM launches followed in 2023, including a new solid-propellant ICBM, most recently this past February.
This move to solid-rocket motors reduces the launch time for its mobile ICBMs, improving prelaunch survivability against U.S. counterstrikes. Given the sensitivities regarding intelligence on North Korea, there is no unclassified government estimate of the number of North Korean ICBMs. However, General Gregory Guillot, head of U.S. Northern Command, said on March 12 that he is “concerned that Kim Jong Un’s growing ICBM stockpile could approach our capacity to defend North America.” Guillot added that this is “a challenge that will only expand in the coming years if Kim Jong Un looks to add multiple reentry vehicles to his missiles.”
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2024/04/12/is_the_united_states_falling_behind_the_north_korean_icbm_threat_1024618.html
