A little off topic, but I am curious about the following from U.S. Dept. of Defense:
“U.S. Warning Systems Detect, Track North Korean Missile Launch
From a North American Aerospace Defense Command News Release
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo., Dec. 11, 2012 – North American Aerospace Defense Command officials acknowledged today that U.S. missile warning systems detected and tracked the launch of a North Korean missile at 7:49 p.m. EST.
The missile was tracked on a southerly azimuth, officials said. Initial indications are that the first stage fell into the Yellow Sea. The second stage was assessed to fall into the Philippine Sea.
Initial indications are that the missile deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit, officials said.
The missile or the resultant debris, officials added, never posed a threat to North America.”
Does that mean all of the components had special transposers on them and that if an enemy turned off the transposers on their ICBMs, we would not be able to track them???
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No, Guided missiles do not have transponders that I know of. Satellite observers stationed in Geo-synchronus orbit over that part of the world with infrared sensors detect missile launches. They track the heat trails...............