North Korea now making missile-ready nuclear weapons, U.S. analysts say

[BlueStateSaint]

Not good!


North Korea now making missile-ready nuclear weapons, U.S. analysts say

By Joby Warrick, Ellen Nakashima and Anna Fifield 

August 8 at 12:09 PM

North Korea has successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles, crossing a key threshold on the path to becoming a full-fledged nuclear power, U.S. intelligence officials have concluded in a confidential assessment.

The new analysis completed last month by the Defense Intelligence Agency comes on the heels of another intelligence assessment that sharply raises the official estimate for the total number of bombs in the communist country’s atomic arsenal. The U.S. calculated last month that up to 60 nuclear weapons are now controlled by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Some independent experts believe the number of bombs is much smaller.

The findings are likely to deepen concerns about an evolving North Korean military threat that appears to be advancing far more rapidly than many experts had predicted. U.S. officials last month concluded that Pyongyang is also outpacing expectations in its effort to build an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking cities on the American mainland.

While more than a decade has passed since North Korea’s first nuclear detonation, many analysts believed it would be years before the country’s weapons scientists could design a compact warhead that could be delivered by missile to distant targets. But the new assessment, a summary document dated July 28, concludes that this critical milestone has already been reached.

“The IC [intelligence community] assesses North Korea has produced nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery, to include delivery by ICBM-class missiles,” the assessment states, in an excerpt read to The Washington Post. The assessment’s broad conclusions were verified by two U.S. officials familiar with the document. It is not yet known whether the reclusive regime has successfully tested the smaller design, although North Korea officially last year claimed to have done so.



The rest of this is here:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/north-korea-now-making-missile-ready-nuclear-weapons-us-analysts-say/2017/08/08/e14b882a-7b6b-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed_story.html?utm_term=.37a66bc303b4

Also, the ZeroHedge.com article . . . http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-08/us-confirms-nkorea-has-icbm-ready-nuclear-warheads

And the Townhall.com piece . . . https://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2017/08/08/north-koreas-new-capabilities-n2366054

Hey, Dems, that "strategic patience" thingy worked soooo well, didn't it?

[DLR Pyro]

how accurate, capable and reliable is the guidance system of a nork ICBM?

[FlaGator]

I think it's time to take off and nuke them from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

It will also make their level of development and capabilities a moot point.

[thundley4]

how accurate, capable and reliable is the guidance system of a nork ICBM?

They probably have the same missile guidance systems that Bill Clinton allowed the Chinese to attain.  Will WWIII be known as Bill Clinton's Folly?

[DumbAss Tanker]

I wonder if they are the younger brothers of the analysts who were absolutely sure Saddam Hussein would have a nuclear weapon in six months, about fifteen years ago.

[Old n Grumpy]

They need to take out kim, bomb his house. End of the problem.