The US will likely not shoot down a North Korean test ICBM if fired, instead will use such a test by dictator Kim Jong Un as an intelligence-gathering opportunity. Kim said last week that his country is close to test-launching an ICBM, with North Korean state media reporting that the regime will launch a missile “anytime and anywhere.” Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Tuesday the US will certainly intercept a North Korean ICBM if it is threatening. “If it’s not threatening, we won’t necessarily do so,” he said. In that case, it would be more advantageous to save the US’s interceptor inventory and gather intelligence from that flight, he said.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
