North Korea tested its third and most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile to date Wednesday, demonstrating previously unseen capabilities.
North Korea tested its Hwasong-14 ICBM twice in July. With the first test on July 4, the rogue regime demonstrated the ability to strike Alaska and some West Coast cities, and with the second test on July 28, the North Koreans proved they can strike targets as far away as Chicago. The flight data from Wednesday’s test suggests that the North can now rain down destruction on any target anywhere in the continental U.S.
The ICBM tested Wednesday flew much higher and for a longer time than both of its predecessors, soaring to a height of 2,800 miles with a total flight time of 54 minutes. David Wright, co-director and senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, estimates that the newest missile, were it to be fired along a standard trajectory, would have a range of more than 13,000 kilometers (over 8,100 miles).
The distance from Pyongyang to Washington, D.C., is only 6,850 miles.
Just to give you and idea which parts of the United States #NorthKorea could reach with its latest ICBM (13000 km range). pic.twitter.com/eds5xLVDOR
— Julian Röpcke (@JulianRoepcke) November 28, 2017
The range of the missile will, of course, vary depending on the weight of the warhead.
North Korea’s missile program “endangers world peace, regional peace and certainly the United States,” Secretary of Defense James Mattis explained. The North Korea situation is one that the U.S. will handle, President Donald Trump said.
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