U.S. defence against North Korean ICBMs

The United States could use its Ground-based Midcourse Defence (GMD) system – designed to intercept incoming warheads in space – if threatened by a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)

INTERCEPT SEQUENCE

1 Hostile ICBM launch

2 Launch detection: By satellites and forward-based radar

3 Warhead release: ICBM may also carry decoys (threat cloud)

4 Tracking: Multiple radar stations monitor threat cloud and attempt to distinguish warhead from decoys

5 Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) launch: Multi-stage booster rocket carries Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) towards warhead’s predicted location in space

6 EKV release

7 Intercept attempt: EKV views threat cloud and uses on-board sensors to steer into path of warhead, destroying it by force of impact

GBI: Total of 36 deployed. Based on tests, analysts believe each GBI has 50 percent chance of destroying warhead. By law of averages, allocating five GBIs per warhead should have 100 percent chance of success

1 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 7

GBI bases

Decoys
Warhead
Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle

RUSSIA
CHINA
JAPAN
NORTH KOREA
Shemya Island
PACIFIC OCEAN
ALASKA (U.S.)
Fort Greely
CANADA
U.S.
Sea-Based X-Band Radar
Vandenberg, California


Sources: MDA, The National Interest © GRAPHIC NEWS