Is it possible for a nuclear bomb to go through the U.S. defenses?

Question

I read that the U.S. is suppose to have advanced defense systems and that lots of money has been put into our defense system over the years. Especially during the Cold War.

Is it true that N.Korea is in the range of attacking use with Nukes and successfully doing so? Is it possible for us to prevent this? Also what top 5 cities do you believe in the U.S. are target for this attack?

I also would like facts and logic behind your answers (I don't want even more people to become more paranoid than most Americans are!) Nothing like were all going to die..bc obviously one day were all going to die so yea =] Please and Thank You for the help!

Answer 1

There is no chance that North Korea could send a functional Nuclear weapon anywhere



First: Both North Korean tests of a nuclear weapon failed to ignite the Plutonium



We detected the blast of the chemical weapons that are used to cause the Plutonium to detonate in a nuclear blast.



However in both tests the Plutonium failed to ignite.



the North Koreans do not know how to ignite weapons grade Plutonium to cause a nuclear explosion.



Essentially North Korea does not know how to build a functional Nuclear Weapon.



It is far more difficult to miniaturize a nuclear weapon.



If the North Koreans cannot build a test mdel that will work there is no possibility that the North Koreans can build a miniaturized version to put on top of a ballistic missile.



Also, it takes so long to prepare the North Koren version of an intercontinental Ballistic Missile for launch, that we can destroy the missile on the launch pad long before the North Koreans can ever get the missile launched.



North Korea is a rather backward third World country.



North Korea is not a military threat to The United States of America.



Think of Kim Jong Il and the North Koreans as the gang that could not shoot straight.

Answer 2

North Korea is at most in range of hitting the Aleutian Islands and blowing up a Russian Orthodox Church or two. Californy is a lot farther away than that.



As for missile defense, there is no such thing. The idea of missile defense is as cheesy a psychological trick as N Korea's nuke rattling is. The American PAC-3 are supposed to be able to intercept smaller missiles, and recently a missile on a stable, known course was shot down on the second attempt (the 1st one failed). But they are basically for show. They can't hit better than 1 out of 5 incoming, and probably worse than that.



Missile defense is basically an impossible technology. The problem is that an incoming missile is a large, high-speed rocket, especially ICBM's, which go through space at blazing speed. Once an ICBM starts falling back into the atmosphere, there is no way to intercept it. You can't fire up an ABM and hope that it will somehow get behind the ICBM and catch up, because it is climbing and the ICBM is diving. So you have to shoot for a head-on long shot. That means the steering on your ABM has to be able to have both incredible reaction time and incredible precision.



Building one requires cutting edge tech and lots of dollars. But defeating one is cheap and low-tech. Here are some easy ways to beat an ABM and to beat anti-missile lasers:



) put a cheap automated radar on the icbm, so it will disperse flares and chaff when it detects an abm

) make the icbm's flight wobble a bit, so that abm's can't predict their flight path

) cover the icbm with reflective or other protective material to protect it from lasers

) build 10 decoy icbm's for every 1 that has a warhead on it, to make the abm's get wasted. This is still much cheaper than abm tech.



If North Korea does eventually lob a missile at the US, it will probably hit, as long as they don't send a detailed flight plan to the US missile defense specialists so they can track and shoot it. A shot that long would be an icbm shot. No chance of hitting it.



But why worry so much about that? The Korean War never ended but the cease fire ended over 50 years ago. If their leaders were really madmen they would have broken it decades ago. They won't commit suicide.



If worst came to worst, they'd probably go for LA anyhow. Sorry but I won't miss LA if they do...






Again, missile defense is expensive and difficult - defeating missile defense is easy and cheap. Even if there's only one missile it's a long shot, especially if it's an ICBM, which is like trying to shoot down a falling meteor. Atmospheric missiles are a bit easier but the success rate is still low. Russia has already announced it will make cheap, easy missile-defense-defeating technology in retaliation for America's expensive program.>

Answer 3

Well nuclear bombs are a bit out dated. I think a bomber carrying that sort of payload would be shot down before it dropped the bomb. A nuke would probably be launched in an intercontinental ballistic missile(a missile that goes into space and then re-enters the atmosphere and hits it's target.



There are a lot of ways that missiles can be stopped. There are space and sea based missile interception programs that the USA employs. So there is a good chance that a nuke would be stopped before it landed. I don't know what five cities but certainly NY or Washington DC.

Answer 4

Well I used to guard our nuclear defense system so I can tell you that we would know the Second N. Korea tries to launch one. Their missile can reach American Territory but not Mainland US. They can reach some of the Aleutian Islands at best. Their biggest problem is their ICBM technology tends to fail (most of their missiles never leave the ground) and their Nuke technology is so crude that its to large to actually put into their missiles. If they tried to fly it here (which they do have the technology to do) their plane would be shot out of the air somewhere in the middle of the Pacific. The only people that need to worry about getting nuked by N.Korea is S. Korea and Japan. Neither of which is likely as they are close allies with us, and we have thousands of nukes. N. Korea has maybe 6. They launch one, their country ceases to exist in 30 minutes.

Answer 5

with the advanced technology we have, it would be very difficult, however there are different types of delivery systems regarding nuclear weapons. you have the ones that explode on impact. these detonate a few hundred feet above the surface and leave a lot of devastation. then you have the ones that detonate several miles above the surface. the goal here is to spread the radioactive material over a larger area using prevailing winds. the surface impact variety would be a bit harder to get through our defenses. but if you can detonate a nuke five miles up and get your intentions done then you have accomplished. also if north korea has anything that can reach the US, it would possibly hit Alaska, maybe Hawaii but nothing on the mainland. also with NORAD in place and the numerous satellites orbiting, if N.K. launched we could react very fast and eliminate the threat. Also, with the world shaking their fingers at N.K. you also have the possibility of China and even Russia jumping in to intercept the missile. when the missile itself is launched, it does go out of the atmosphere towards its target before reentering. this is the best opportunity to take it out to eliminate any fallout.

Answer 6

I don't believe a single nuclear missile could make it through our defenses. However, there are devices capable of widespread nuclear destruction that can be set off within U.S. borders. The first is known as a suitcase nuke. The United States and former Soviet Union are the only known countries to have produced these, but I would not be surprised if a group of terrorists came across these on the black market. Next, there is something known as a "dirty bomb." This device combines radioactive material with conventional explosives to create radioactive contamination. You may have heard of the Jose Padilla story, but luckily he was caught before he could execute his plan. So yes, it is possible for a nuclear bomb of that sort to get past U.S. technological defenses. However, there is a substantial population of competent (as well as incompetent) law enforcement and intelligence officials who would defend us from this sort of attack.

Answer 7

I have seen this on tv that like the army rangers and navy seals there is an elete missle and bomb teams that can shoot a us missle so exact that it will collide with the enemy missle and will detonate in the air. The us is a very technogically advanced country and is prepared for stuff like that so u shouldn't be that concerned but be aware. The top 5 cities would be ny, San fran, Washington DC obviously, many Miami, and possibly philli

Answer 8

It possible to carry a small nuclear weapon in a few suitcases, or less.

.

N. Korea is less a threat to the US than some .... well, we can't call them terrorists anymore.... Let's just say .. some nice fellows who would like to sincerely express their innermost feelings. And we, being a thoughtful, loving country will certainly not wish to interfere with that personal expression.

Nor would we like to fine out if, indeed, these nice men really would like to do any sort of harmful action to such a friendly, peace loving people as us.

Especially if it means we might cause our new "friends" to be in the least way "uncomfortable". Rather than do that, we are willing to endure the violent deaths of thousands [more] of our fellow citizens.

After all, we deserve it. We are bad people.

I'm sure, that as we are cleaning up the thousands of [more] dead bodies, our foreign friends will relish explaining to us why we deserved such a fate.

and we can apologize for making such a mess and promise to never, ever be bad again.

Answer 9

Any country which fires a nuclear bomb in this day is looking at their own death sentence. It affects the entire globe. I doubt they will. They have a new toy and want to look bad.



Can one get through our defenses? I don't know, anything is possible. The devastation would kill more than the place hit.

I'm letting our government handle it, that's why they get paid to do. They know more than I

Answer 10

I don't think NK has made a nuke that can reach us yet, they're a bit under advanced. Also, I wouldn't worry, because I'm sure every country knows that if they nuke someone, they get nuked back. It's as simple as that.

Answer 11

top 5 cities are:

1. Detroit MI

2. Grosse Pointe MI

3. Clinton Township MI

4. St Clair Shores MI

5. Brighton MI

Answer 12

My husband manned the Patriot System during Desert Storm.This is an interceptor of missiles. Whether it could handle nuclear missiles I do not know, but here is a link to read:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIM-104_Patriot

Answer 13

Earlier they were supposadly targeting our West Coast major cities of Portland, OR Seattle, WA Sanfrancisco, Cal and 1 or 2 mor in Cali

Answer 14

A N Korean nuke? Absolutely not. We would know about the launch a week prior to its taking place.

Answer 15

Anything is possible that's why you prepare for the worst.



Easiest way would be for them to sneak the bomb in or one of their subs gets close enough. This assumes that they have these abilities.

Answer 16

You think that America has some sort of missile stopping system? Nope. So yes, I do think it would be possible for a missile to go through America's non-existent defense system.

Answer 17

north korea is becoming a strong country, so i think it is very possible, the top 5 cities i think are, 1. DC 2. New York 3. Los Angeles 4. Boston 5. San Francisco.

Answer 18

Obama cut funding for missile defense, so yes.

Answer 19

Dude...there is no missile/nuke defense system. We are still playing MAD only this time with made men with bombs.

Answer 20

well considering the fact that our defense system may be better than we all know about and better than the U.S claims...no

Answer 21

probably could happen.

even one would fck us up pretty bad. I learned in school that anyone even looking at an explosion from a distance would be instantly blinded.



id go for:



Washington D.C.

Hartford, CT

L.A.

NYC,

and like Miami or something.



but who knows

Answer 22

It is quite possible, never underestimate the enemy.

Answer 23

yes. I hope Al Qaeda goes through and bombs the **** out of this shithole!