Shield Up:Pentagon activates missile defenses for expected N. Korean missile test
BY: Bill Gertz
Freebeacon.com
April 4, 2013
The Pentagon has placed its national missile defense shield on heightened alert amid reports that North Korea is preparing a missile flight test, according to defense officials.
The higher alert status includes moving two Aegis-equipped missile defense ships to waters near North Korea and readying long-range ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California, said officials familiar with the status.
The Pentagon also announced on Wednesday it is deploying one of its newest ground-based missile defenses to the U.S. island of Guam, a major U.S. military hub in the South Pacific.
The Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) will be sent to Guam in the coming weeks “to strengthen the regional defense posture against the North Korean regional ballistic missile threat,” a Pentagon statement said.
The increased readiness of the missile shield followed harsh threats by the communist regime in North Korea to conduct nuclear missile attacks against the United States.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said following a speech yesterday that North Korea has a “nuclear capacity now,” along with missiles.
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