Testing North Korea's ballistic missiles this week showed a new, more dangerous opportunities in their missile program, but the Pentagon says that the US and its Asian allies protected to combat the threat.

When North Korea launched a rocket on Sunday, the U.S. Navy had two destroyers in the sea of Japan with the ability to shoot down the rocket, said a spokesman of the Ministry of defense. Guided missile destroyers Stethem and McCampbell, equipped with the Aegis missile defense system, which is able to track 100 missiles simultaneously and fire the interceptors can take out ballistic projectiles of the enemy.

"We worked very quickly with our Japanese and South Korean allies to ensure that the missile is not a threat to them too. As you know, we support the ability to be able to react quickly to intercept missiles from North Korea, if they threaten us or our allies, " said captain Jeff Davis.

Due to the fact that the missile was launched from a missile site on the West coast of North Korea, it flew farther than any of the previous, about 300 miles before falling into the sea of Japan.

"The missile was launched at 89 degrees, and if it was running at normal angle, which is 45 degrees, she could fly more than 2000 kilometers (1242 miles). This launch indicates that the missile technology North Korea is constantly making progress,".

American officials noted that the missile, Pukguksong-2, used a solid rocket fuel, thus it is more difficult to detect during Sakska because it requires less time fueling on the launch pad.

But the Aegis system, which is in the arsenals of the United States, Japan and South Korea, allows the early detection of missile threats and provides the ability to track these missiles for interception later in their flight. Aegis can also work with other missile defense systems such as THAAD, which should be deployed in South Korea this year, or ABOUT Patriot.
sections: Politics, World News, Accidents