Nuclear weapons are in the news lately with the Pope coming out strongly for disarmament and the U.N. passing a resolution calling for Israel to disarm. The main threat to the United States is from Russia which has a big nuclear arsenal that is pointed at targets in the U.S. Russia has been doing a lot of nuclear saber rattling lately sending nuclear bombers to the borders of other countries including the U.S. They have also just announced that they are considering moving nuclear weapons into the Crimea. China has a few hundred nuclear warheads and is being belligerent about rights to islands near its coast. There is little concern that other nuclear states are a threat to the U.S. with the exception of North Korea.
The N.K. dictatorship is very closed and secretive. They are upset about the U.S. presence in South Korea. N.K. often makes threats about the use of nuclear devices. They are known to be working on nuclear bombs and delivery systems but information about that work is difficult to gather. They occasionally launch a short or mid-range rocket test. There is some doubt that they can miniaturize a nuclear bomb to a size that could be carried by a missile. One of the big debates in the West is exactly how many nuclear bombs N.K. might have. Estimates often are in single digits.
N.K. has announced that they have a long-range missile that can be launched from a mobile carrier. They refer to this missile as the KN-08. Last January, the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, told Congress that N.K. was working on making the KN-08 operational but that they had not completed the task.
A General Scaparrotti at the Pentagon recently commented about a possible long-range N.K. missile. He allowed that N.K. might be able to test fire a missile that theoretically could reach the continental U.S. but he expressed doubt that such a launch would be successful. Despite questions about N.K. capability of developing such a long range nuclear capacity, the General pointed out that the North Koreans possess a lot of nuclear technology and expertise. In addition, they have international connections with other nations that do have sophisticated nuclear weapons technology and delivery systems that they might share with the North Koreans. The General says that ignoring the possibility of a N.K. threat against targets inside the U.S. would be "imprudent."
General Scaparrotti also expressed concern about the N.K. practices of testing ballistic missiles without notice. He said "We are concerned that such events could start a cycle of action and counteraction, leading to an unintended, uncontrolled escalation." The general also said. "This underscores the need for the alliance between the U.S. and South Korea to work together, to be vigilant and to be ready to act."
Chuck Hagel is the U.S. Secretary of Defense. When asked whether or not Hagel agrees with the analysis of N.K. nuclear capabilities discussed by General Scaparrotti, the Pentagon Press Secretary said "The secretary shares the general's concerns about their attempts to acquire this capability. The secretary agrees with Gen. Scaparrotti that this is a capability that they want. And I think the secretary also shares the general's views of the seriousness of the matter."
North Korean KN-08 missile on mobile launcher:
