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alien_from_Europa t1_iqye026 wrote

Does Japan not have the ability to shoot these missiles down that get too close to their waters?

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iikun t1_iqyupuz wrote

Nth Korean missiles fired over Japan often are so high up they’re basically in space (100kms altitude). No word on this latest one yet, but I daresay Japan would’ve loved to shoot it down and their not doing that makes me think it was flying at an altitude beyond the capability of interceptors.

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Aazadan t1_iqz52gc wrote

It might be possible if one were on a trajectory to hit Japan (it's not really proven one way or the other). But, North Korea is basically just trying to provoke a response like that. North Korea doesn't actually want to hit Japan in an attack so they either shoot really high where interception can't reach, or they shoot into the ocean "near" Japan a ways over them.

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vetsetradio t1_ir036oo wrote

I'm no fan of the DPRK, but if you want to get to space from there (or anywhere) your easiest path is East due to Earth's rotation; from N Korea that means right over Japan. I'm sure the response you speak of is a bonus for Kim Jong-un, but if they are shooting for space, there exists no better direction to launch than East.

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DeadLikeYou t1_ir2en6w wrote

Do you think the missile was NK trying to launch a satellite?

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vetsetradio t1_ir3gms6 wrote

And they hit the missile button by accident? I doubt it.

It was probably something like a Hwasong-12 --- The missile traveled nearly 3,000 miles and reached Mach 17, with an apogee of 970km (~602 miles), well above the Karman Line of 62 miles (the common definition of where space starts).

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brockwallace t1_iqyfnsu wrote

It's north Korea.

A 12 year old with a paper plane on the coast of Japan can shoot their missiles down.

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Parzivus t1_iqz4ul9 wrote

IDK if you realize this but that just isn't how it works. ICBMs travel several miles per second in the reentry phase and typically have multiple projectiles. The idea that you can just "shoot it down" is mostly a lie fed by overpaid defense contractors

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brockwallace t1_iqz4ymm wrote

Well I mean... I said it could be shot down with a paper plane.. So....

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ID0ntCare4G0b t1_iqymsob wrote

Missile defense systems are notoriously ineffective and widely considered a propaganda ploy that only countries that spend way too much money on defense pursue.

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