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Remain Vigilant for the U.S. Homeland

February 3, 2022
Riki Ellison in front of the NORTHCOM and NORAD Headquarters at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado on February 2, 2022.

2022 is off to a remarkable start.  We have seen the largest number and widest variety of missile launches from different nations and non-state actors in recent memory. North Korea has taken clear advantage of a distracted international audience with seven missile launches in the first month of 2022, all of which have been counter to previous agreements and/or UN resolutions. The current focus on the Ukraine and Russia creates an opportunistic environment for Iran, Houthi rebels, China, and North Korea to further escalate their destabilizing activities. North Korea in particular, with its missile tests and missile development, is seeking a capability to target Japan, Guam, Hawaii, and even the continental United States. With testing and development support from China and Russia, they have achieved multiple advancements with maneuverable reentry warheads, multiple launch systems from railways and submarines, solid-propellant missile systems, hypersonic missile capabilities, and increased reliability and effectiveness. Every test furthers their organic and non-organic ability to make their missiles more lethal. 

The United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea must continue with their missile defense modernization efforts, increasing their investments in growth of capacity and new capabilities for Homeland Missile Defense systems to always stay ahead of the threat from a Nuclear North Korea. 

U.S. Homeland Missile Defense Capability

These are the United States top six most important existing programs of record to deploy and modernize against the evolving North Korean Persistent Missile Threat- It is our responsibility as a nation for the defense of our Population.

North Korea Tests January 2022

  • January 4th, North Korea’s first test of the year featured a missile that traveled 700 km at Mach 6 before striking its target. 
  • January 11th, North Korea conducted a missile test with a maneuverable reentry vehicle (MaRV) that traveled around 700 km at the higher speed of Mach 10. These first two tests featured missiles from their hypersonic missile program
  • January 14th and 17th featured the KN-23 and KN-24 short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) demonstrating the ability to conduct mid-air maneuvers. The test on January 14th involved the launch of two KN-23 SRBMs that flew at Mach 6 for roughly 430 km with an altitude of 36 km, impacting an island off the east coast of North Korea. The test on January 17th launched two KN-24 SRBMs reported to have flown at 380 km at an altitude of 42 km. North Korean officials claimed the January 17th test was used to evaluate tactical guided missiles and their ability to precisely hit an island target.
  • January 30th, North Korea conducted its biggest launch since 2017 with the test of a Hwasong-12 intermediate range ballistic missile. Traveling approximately 800 kilometers and reaching an altitude of around 2,000 kilometers, the Hwasong-12 landed in the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan. The Hwasong-12 had previously boasted a maximum range of 2,800 kilometers, putting United States forces in Guam within its target area. 

North Korea has used a persistent strategy of Missile Testing paired with nuclear development for the past three decades. This extortion against the United States and the international community is intended to extract reward, recognition, and power to North Korea. It is a pattern over the last three generations of the Kim family’s leadership of North Korea and every time, every generation, North Korea breaks its commitments and attempts to extort more from the United States, South Korea and the international community. North Korea gains valuable time that further enables greater weapons development and deployment to continue the extortion appeasement unending reality of North Korea threatening the United States, Japan and South Korea.​

Having reliable, tested, and proven defensive capabilities is the foundation required to deny this North Korean extortion. The United States, Japan and South Korea must have reliable extensive Missile Defense systems and be persistent in continuing to develop and modernize our Missile Defense Systems. 

Appeasement doesn’t work in world history as we have seen time and time again. It only serves to further the insatiable appetite for more aggression and more advanced weapons of intimidation. North Korea is watching Russia and China, and Russia and China are watching North Korea. 

We must bolster and strengthen missile defense, as it provides the same stability and capability against other extortionists. 

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Mission Statement

MDAA’s mission is to make the world safer by advocating for the development and deployment of missile defense systems to defend the United States, its armed forces and its allies against missile threats.

MDAA is the only organization in existence whose primary mission is to educate the American public about missile defense issues and to recruit, organize, and mobilize proponents to advocate for the critical need of missile defense. We are a non-partisan membership-based and membership-funded organization that does not advocate on behalf of any specific system, technology, architecture or entity.

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