The United States is taking the threat of North Korea seriously and is planning to defend Guam -- which was identified by Kim Jong-un as one of their probable targets. MQ-9 Reaper drones are being readied to act as a shield and protect the interests of the United States from any nuclear attack. This is because North Korea interprets the joint military exercises of US-South Korea as an effort by the US to oust Kim Jong-un from power, and there could be retaliation.
How MQ-9 will operate
Daily Mail UK reports that strategy of the US is to use MQ-9 drone to defend Guam from a nuclear attack by North Korea.
These drones will be a deterrent and foil the attempts of Kim because they will track the launch of the missile and pass on relevant information to offshore warships of the US Navy. Experts are of the opinion that it would pay dividends to go in for such tactics.
The effectiveness of the system has been tested during the 2016 missile defense drill labeled as Pacific Dragon held by the United States and its allies Japan and South Korea and was satisfactory. It was a confidence building exercise and showed that a pair of modified drones could track a ballistic missile. Pacific Dragon was a biennial exercise that lay stress on how to improve tactical and technical coordination and included different aspects like detection, tracking, and reporting of ballistic targets.
Incidentally, these drones are manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, and they plan to improve their performance, especially about the ability to track missiles because this is important for missile defense.
Deployment of drones
North Korea claims to have developed ICBMs that can reach the US mainland and it 's hard to assess the accuracy of such information.
It has tested missiles at regular intervals and reported improvement in performance and has also threatened to launch a nuclear attack on the United States. The island of Guam has been identified as a probable target because it is a US base and drones will enter the scene to protect the interests of the US.
No one wants a confrontation with nuclear weapons.
That could lead to the destruction of unimaginable proportions and the need of the hour is a diplomatic breakthrough. Moon Jae-in, the president of South Korea, was keen to resolve the issue amicably. Donald Trump wanted Xi Jinping to enforce sanctions and put a stop to trade with Pyongyang. The situation is tense and has to be defused to prevent it from escalating into a major conflict. North Korea is an unpredictable entity and the US cannot let down its guard but must remain alert.
