US Navy has no convincing response to Pyongyang missiles

An attack by North Korea of intercontinental ballistic missiles against US territory would result in huge numbers of casualties, so Washington must think of an alternative to the THAAD system, which is useless against such weapons, the military analyst said.

One of the possible options that could be used to some extent in a more effective way is the US Mid-Term Defense (GMD) that protects the continental United States, writes Sebastien Roblin in his article for The National Interest.

Another approach involves the use of the US Navy's SM-3 Block IIA interceptor missiles. Currently, these weapons are installed aboard US and Japanese cruisers and destroyers. Their terrestrial version, called Aegis Ashore, will be deployed for the protection of Japan and Eastern Europe.

The author emphasized that the SM-3 is intended to intercept the mid-range and intermediate range missiles. However, the maximum speed of the SM-3 Mark IIA is twice that of the THAAD, reaching 15 Mach - more than 18,500 kilometers per hour. At the same time, the Mark IIA modification has a significantly larger range - 2,500 kilometers.

Several dozen Aegis ships equipped with Block IIA missiles are already in service, yet their numbers are still not enough to protect the Navy's fleets abroad.

Like the GMD system, the SM-3 intercepts missiles just above the Earth's atmosphere and mid-path. This is the main difference from the THAAD (High Altitude Area Terminal Defense), which intercepts enemy missiles in the terminal phase of their flight.

In that sense, SM-3 would only increase the defensive capabilities of the GMD, but would not provide additional protection in the terminal phase of an enemy missile attack. At the same time, the author emphasized that SM-3 is better suited to intercept an intercontinental ballistic missile than THAAD.

The Pentagon may also propose another alternative to the two anti-missile systems already mentioned: poachers equipped with AIM-120D air-to-air missiles, which could knock down enemy missiles at the initial stage of flight, although this idea is impractical for several reasons. Roblin believes that drones equipped with lasers could accomplish this task more effectively in the future.

Although the THAAD may in certain circumstances overturn an intercontinental ballistic missile, the existing analysis does not support the assumption that this weapon will be effective in that role. In addition, even systems specially designed to intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles often fail in their tests, Roblin concluded.