The US will soon test THAAD missile defenses as tensions with North Korea mount

Daniel Brown,Reuters

Jul 8, 2017, 02:52 IST

FILE PHOTO - A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is launched during a successful intercept test, in this undated handout photo provided by the U.S. Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency. U.S. Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency/Handout via Reuters/File Photo

Thomson Reuters

FILE PHOTO: A THAAD interceptor is launched during a successful intercept test

The US plans to carry out a new test of its THAAD missile defense system against an intermediate-range ballistic missile in the coming days, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday, as tensions with North Korea climb.

Despite being planned months ago, the U.S. missile defense test will gain significance in the wake of North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on July 4 that has heightened concerns about the threat from Pyongyang.

Experts have said that the nuclear-capable missile North Korea just tested, the Hwasong-14, is capable of hitting Alaska.

The missile flew 1,800 miles above the earth and on a normal trajectory could fly 4,160 miles.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump vowed to confront North Korea "very strongly," saying that the US was considering "severe things" for Pyongyang.