Why US ICBM Minuteman III’s Launch Sends Strong Signal to N Korea
SputnikNews.com
26.04.2017
The test launch of the US nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile Minuteman III does look like a show of force amid growing tensions over North Korea, Russian military expert Igor Korotchenko told Radio Sputnik.
The US is about to test launch its nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Minuteman III. Although the country’s Air Force Global Strike Command insists that the test has no connection to the tensions simmering over North Korea, Igor Korotchenko, Director of the Center for Analysis of World Arms Trade (CAWAT), doubts the statement is entirely true.
“[The Minuteman III ICBM] serves as a strategic deterrent and demonstrates US readiness to strike a potential adversary,” Korotchenko told Radio Sputnik.
“Every year, the US launches ballistic missiles from sea and land to confirm the operational utility of its strategic nuclear forces and to assess the technical characteristics of these missiles. Such missile tests are conducted by the Americans, and by us [the Russians], and by other countries of the nuclear club [on a regular basis],” he said.
However, he believes that despite the Pentagon’s statements, there is a “certain military-political component” in the upcoming ICBM launch.
“As for this specific launch, it obviously has a military-political component, given the fact that the Americans continue to amass their [military] forces around North Korea. Therefore, at the given time this launch can more or less be regarded as military and political pressure on Pyongyang,” Korotchenko underscored.
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