See, the US Army is right. ICBMs are the fastest way to deploy ISR-Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance-spy bots. They only take minutes to launch and reach a target anywhere in the world. Loading them with spy bots will provide with access to real-time data about any conflict area, in virtually no time:

ISR platforms delivered from missiles can potentially provide battlefield information that is only seconds old when transmitted from long ranges. This information is particularly valuable since it is so current. It provides the potential for striking a very mobile enemy before he has time to alter his position.

But then, ICBMs usually carry a much dangerous load: Nuclear warheads. You can be sure that the the Russians—or the Chinese or the North Koreans—won't be happy about detecting an ICBM launch off Alaska. That's exactly the reason why other similar efforts pioneered by Darpa were scrapped. The US Army boffins, however, say they have a plan to avoid the confusion: Use a different kind of ICBM.

How different that missile could be? A ballistic missile is a ballistic missile. They follow a trajectory across oceans and continents to open and drop whatever load they have, being that nukes, spy bots, or cotton candy. Then, the Army also says that they want the spy bots to be fully armed, just in case they want to strike seconds after they find the enemy.

See, that still doesn't sound like a good idea to me. Like the old Russian proverb says: "If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, it's a nuclear missile." [Wired]

According to Wikipedia, it depends. If they're using the short to medium range missiles, it's probably going to be the Musudan, which has an operational range of 2500-4000 kilometers. The darker red circle shows the maximum range of this. Nowhere close to US territories, but China, Russia and Japan should probably keep an eye open.

However, if they're going to use their Taepodong-2 long range three-stage missiles, there's a MAXIMUM possibility of 10,000 kilometers (the larger circle). However, a more likely scenario is somewhere around 4500 kilometers, which still isn't quite far enough to hit Alaska or Hawaii.

In the case that somehow it can reach the maximum 10,000 kilometers, it's still not quite there to the west coast of the US, so I can take my diapers off and stop worrying. [Guardian]

Update: Ah crap. There's a reason why I don't do this for a living. The Earth is round. Here's a better map. We're all screwed. Thanks commenters. Forget everything I wrote.

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NORAD and USNORTHCOM monitor North Korean launch

April 05, 2009

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. - North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command officials acknowledged today that North Korea launched a Taepo Dong 2 missile at 10:30 p.m. EDT Saturday which passed over the Sea of Japan/East Sea and the nation of Japan.

Stage one of the missile fell into the Sea of Japan/East Sea. The remaining stages along with the payload itself landed in the Pacific Ocean.

No object entered orbit and no debris fell on Japan.

NORAD and USNORTHCOM assessed the space launch vehicle as not a threat to North America or Hawaii and took no action in response to this launch.

This is all of the information that will be provided by NORAD and USNORTHCOM pertaining to the launch.

Apparently, their rocket technology is not really there yet, and the second stage never separated or ignited, according to Defense Tech's analysis. And that's yet another pathetic failure by the North Korean clowns, boys and girls. Maybe Kim Yong-il and the rest of his gang should develop pork buns for their starving population, rather ICBMs. [Northern Command via Defense Tech]

Here's a video of the first test of Lockheed Martin's Multiple Kill Vehicle, hovering and moving in 3D space with deadly precision. But while the video is amazing on itself, how does the MKV work?

The Lockheed Martin's Multiple Kill Vehicle will be the first anti-ballistic missile system designed to search and destroy multiple warheads and countermeasures using a single launcher. First, the MKV-L will fly to encounter the cloud of multiple warheads and decoys being deployed by the enemy missile. Then, instead of exploding, the MKV will maneuver through the threats launching several kill vehicles, each targeted at the different objects on the air, both real dangers and dummies set to deceive missile defenses.

During the test at the Edwards Air Force Base in California, the full-scale prototype MKV flew for 30 seconds, maneuvering while tracking a target at an altitude of 23 feet.

For some reason, seeing this thing floating over the air scares the bejeezus out of me. Maybe it's the way it moves combined with the stuttering sound, but it certainly looks deadly. Fortunately, it will only be deadly to weapons from the bad guys.

The new MKV-L will be able to take out an ICBM and all of its MIRVs long before they could do any damage, and Lockheed just announced an important milestone in its development: they've calibrated the infrared pathfinder seekers. These are the clever gizmos at the heart of the MKV-L that'll let it track those multiple targets. Next up: testing prototypes in the air and the lab, with an aim of in-operation date of 2017. [Cnet News]