Success of North Korean Missile Test Is Thrown Into Question
August 1, 2017 by admin
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The findings about the North’s difficulties with a re-entry vehicle came from Michael Elleman, a missile expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. He said the malfunction of the warhead as it re-entered the earth’s atmosphere “casts doubt” on the North’s ability to shield a nuclear warhead from the blistering heat and vibrations as it heads to its target at the high speeds that intercontinental ballistic missiles typically achieve.
In a news conference on Monday, Mr. Elleman said North Korea would have to conduct a minimum of two or three more ICBM test flights to make sure its rocket designers have fixed the warhead problem. Still, he said, the nation will probably be able to develop a workable missile with a reliable warhead by early next year. That would put the country within the rough time period described in recent American intelligence analyses, which predicted that sometime in 2018 all the technologies needed by the North were likely to come together in a single weapon.
Fixing the design flaw “might take them another six months,” Mr. Elleman told reporters on a conference call organized by 38 North, a research institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. “But the key is that they’ll have to do additional flight tests.”
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The need for more tests creates an opening for the Trump administration.
Under President Barack Obama, North Korean missile tests were regularly subject to cyber and electronic attacks. Among its military options, the Trump administration could accelerate those attacks, but they appeared less effective over the past six months.
The United States could also position more naval craft in international waters off the North Korean coast. That would give it the option of conducting pre-emptive attacks on missiles on their launchpads — a risky approach because it could incite a war — or trying to shoot down test missiles as they are rising through the atmosphere.
The videotape of the warhead’s breakup came from the Japanese television station NHK. An affiliate in Muroran City, a port in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost large island, keeps a weather camera mounted on a roof. On Friday, in a stroke of luck, the camera was trained on the area of the sky where the mock warhead appeared to plunge back to earth, about 125 miles from the Japanese coast.
The incoming mock warhead, Mr. Elleman said, should have shone brightly and continuously as it fell — like a shooting star streaking to Earth. But in this case, he said, the video shows the bright incoming projectile starting to shed into small radiant objects. Then, quite suddenly, it dims and disappears altogether.
It should have continued to glow until it hit the ocean, he told reporters. “Most likely it broke up,” he said.
How long it will take the North to fix the design, Mr. Elleman said, depends largely on “how much they learn from this particular test.” His six-month estimate, he said, assumes that the North’s engineers have the ability to correctly diagnose the technical problem and fix it.
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“It could be done in three months,” he said. “It may take six months. If they continue to fail, however, it could take a longer period of time. We just don’t know.”
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Rockies get Rangers’ Jonathan Lucroy for player to be named
July 31, 2017 by admin
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The playoff-contending Colorado Rockies acquired catcher Jonathan Lucroy from the Texas Rangers on Sunday night for a player to be named.
Trade grades: Jonathan Lucroy is (at least) a minimum upgrade for Rockies
Lucroy isn’t having a great season at the plate. But with Colorado’s catchers currently ranked second to last in the majors in wOBA, the acquisition can’t hurt.
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The deal was announced while the Rockies were playing the second game of a day-night doubleheader against Washington. Colorado had a solid lead for an NL wild-card spot.
Monday is the deadline for teams to make trades without waivers.
Lucroy hit .242 with four home runs and 27 RBIs in 77 games with Texas this year. While he made 65 starts at catcher, the Rangers also have Robinson Chirinos and Brett Nicholas on their big league roster.
“Getting Jonathan gives us a guy with some veteran presence behind the plate just like Ryan Hanigan as our young starters go into uncharted territory in the next two months,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “His track record is pretty good. The guy’s an All-Star. He’s had success in the major leagues both offensively and defensively, so we should feel good about this one. To get this type of player, it’s going to pick everybody up.”
Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said the move gives his team an opportunity for Chirinos and Nicholas “to play more, and for us to add young talent to the organization.”
Lucroy had been with the Rangers for almost a full year, since they acquired him from Milwaukee last Aug. 1 — the trade deadline day last season.
The 31-year-old Lucroy, a two-time All-Star with the Brewers, hit .276 with 11 homers and 31 RBIs in his 47 games at the end of last season with the Rangers, who won the AL West title.
Lucroy has thrown out 13 of 44 would-be base stealers this year. He has caught a major league-most 159 runners trying to steal since 2011.
Chirinos was the Rangers’ opening day catcher in 2015 and 2016. The 32-year-old from Venezuela is hitting .216 in 46 games this year, with 12 homers that are only one shy of his career high.
Nicholas made his big-league debut with 15 games last season, and was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock last Monday after Chirinos hurt his ankle in a home-plate collision. Nicholas pitched the ninth inning in a 22-10 loss to the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night, and made his first appearance at catcher Sunday.