North Korea-US Tension Further Looms, US Navy Tests Ballistic Missile Shootdown Capability Near Scotland

Washington, October 16: More than 20 NATO warships participated in a shootdown of a ballistic missile target near Scotland on Sunday morning amid North Korea's advancing nuke and missile programs.

Updated: October 16, 2017 10:47 PM IST

By India.com News Desk

North Korea-US Tension Further Looms, US Navy Tests Ballistic Missile Shootdown Capability Near Scotland

Washington, October 16: More than 20 NATO warships participated in a shootdown of a ballistic missile target near Scotland on Sunday morning amid North Korea’s advancing nuke and missile programs.

Highlights

  • Ships from France, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom also participated in the live-fire defence test.
  • The test came after North Korean launched several successful missiles and conducted nuclear tests.

According to a statement issued by US Navy, the live-fire exercise included 14 NATO warships. During the exercise, USS Donald Cook, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer successfully “detected, tracked and intercepted a medium-range ballistic target with a Standard Missile-3 Block IB guided missile,” the statement further said.

Apart from the US, ships from France, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom also participated in the live-fire defence test.

Task Group IAMD Commander said that they are extremely proud of the Task Group members and their performance during these complex, live-fire engagements.

The statement further said that the exercise scenarios are designed to test our limits to fight together as an alliance.

The test came after North Korean launched several successful missiles and conducted nuclear tests.

After it’s first ICBM flight in July this year, North Korea said that the missile was the “final step” in creating a “powerful nuclear state that can strike anywhere on Earth.”

In September, North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test in September.
The test, which Pyongyang claimed was a hydrogen bomb has reportedly destabilised the Punggye-ri region, where nuclear tests have been conducted.

United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Sunday said that diplomatic efforts with North Korea would continue until the “first bomb drops”.

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