According to a report on CNN, a study conducted in China has revealed that a missile launched from North Korea could potentially reach the United States in as little as 33 minutes.
As per the report, an analyst from the Open Nuclear Network named Tianran Xu stated that Chinese scientists conducted a simulation of a hypothetical North Korean missile strike on the United States
The study indicated that if missile defense systems were unable to intercept it, the nuclear missile could hit the mainland of the United States in just 33 minutes. The research also revealed that the west and east coasts of the US could be easily targeted.
The study used the hypothetical launch of North Korea’s Hwasong-15 missile which is a nuclear-capable missile with an effective range of 13,000 km, “sufficient to hit the entire US homeland”, the scientists said as per South China Morning Post.
The US missile defence headquarters would receive an alert about 20 seconds after the missile is launched and the first batch of intercepting missiles form US will take off within 11 minutes from Fort Greely in Alaska. Another wave of interceptors would be launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, if the first fail.
The study said that the existing US missile defence network had gaps that could be exploited. According to the Centre for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, the system has been 55 percent effective and it “cannot be relied upon to protect the US from even an extremely limited attack”.
Frederick K Lamb, professor of Physics at the University of Illinois told CNN, “If North Korea were to fire a nuclear-armed ICBM at the United States, we cannot be sure that our missile defence system would prevent [it].”
