The
long-scheduled tests in the Pacific are part of the US military's
overall ballistic missile defense program to defend against North Korean
or Iranian threats -- but are, for now at least, aimed at ensuring the
US can defend against a threat from North Korea, US defense officials
said.
One
of the actions will involve test-firing an improved Standard Missile
off a Navy ship, a defense official said. The tests are taking place
over the Pacific because that's where the test ranges are large enough
to accommodate them.
The upgraded missile has only been tested once before.
The new version has an improved booster and warhead. That means the
missile could fire at longer ranges, presumably farther from the North
Korean coastline, and have a greater chance of hitting the threatening
incoming missile.
The program has been in development with
Japan and is aimed at shooting down intermediate-range North Korean
missiles that pose a threat to the US ally.
A
separate critical test in the Pacific region, to be held at the end of
May, will examine the ability of the US to shoot down a future North
Korean intercontinental ballistic missile that could threaten the US.
That
test involves long-range ground-based interceptor missiles based in
Alaska and California. That program has also been in existence for over a
decade, but only about half the tests have been successful, according
to the Defense Department.
In the
most recent Pentagon report on weapons testing across the department,
the long-range system was criticized. The report said it "demonstrates a
limited capability to defend the US homeland from small numbers of
simple intermediate-range or intercontinental ballistic missile threats
launched from North Korea or Iran."
The report went on to say that the Pentagon continued to discover new failures during testing.
In
the upcoming test, a missile will be launched from the Vandenberg Air
Force Base in California and attempt to intercept a simulated missile
over the Pacific Ocean.
As part of a
broader National Security Council review of options for dealing with
North Korea, the Pentagon has been considering its military options for
more than a month in case the White House were to decide to take such
action, a defense official said. The NSC effort is also looking at
diplomatic and economic options.
The
official pointed out the recent engagement with the Chinese, and the
stronger language calling for more Chinese pressure on North Korea, is
the most immediate impact of that review.
The
review of military options is essentially "due diligence," the official
said. Top military and civilian Pentagon officials are "thinking
through every course of action."
That
also involves updating any analysis on the latest thinking of how North
Korea might militarily react if the US were to take military steps.
The
official emphasized that all of the ongoing work doesn't change the
administration -- and Pentagon's -- emphasis on the need for a peaceful
diplomatic solution.
The official was adamant that the US is
currently not anticipating pre-emptive military action against North
Korea. Standard policy -- which calls for shooting down of a North
Korean missile after launch if the trajectory is deemed to threaten
South Korea, Japan or the US -- remains in place.
The
review also is aimed at ensuring necessary military assets are properly
situated if there is a need for military action. Multiple US officials
said all current anti-missile ships and other ground-based interceptors
in Alaska are available.
Even as
the military options are reviewed and updated, Defense Secretary James
Mattis is also underscoring the need for a non-military solution.
"You're
aware that the leader of North Korea again recklessly tried to provoke
something by launching a missile," he recently told reporters. "It was
not an intercontinental ballistic missile, it failed on launch, and it
shows why we're working so closely right now with the Chinese."
Both
countries are trying "to get this under control and aim for a
denuclearized Korean Peninsula," he said. "China and the United States
and South Korea, Japan, we all share that same interest."