Free Republic

North Korea is preparing for its first nuclear bomb test in nearly five years, government sources in South Korea have told local media. Kim Jong Un's secretive regime appears to be hastily constructing a 'shortcut' to a tunnel at its nuclear test site in Punggye-ri in preparations for a seventh underground nuclear detonation, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Sunday. Warnings of the nuclear test, which would be the first since September 17, come just days after the North test-fired its massive Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile, which could deliver a warhead anywhere in the United States.

US Air Force tests Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile The U.S. Air Force on Wednesday test launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, officials said. According to a statement from Air Force Global Strike Command, the missile took off at 5:26 am (12:26 GMT) and was successful. “A reliable test launch occurs when a test missile launches, completes its flight path within a designated safety corridor, the equipment functions properly, sensor data is collected, and the test reentry vehicle impacts where targeted,” the statement read. “Though the reentry vehicle reached its intended...

Was UFO a Russian ballistic missile? Russian Defense Ministry says it successfully test-fired intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday; earlier, unidentified flying object reported in Israel, Lebanon, other states in region and Reports from the Syrian cities of Daraa, Hama and Dir al-Zur are claiming that Assad's forces are using unknown gas shells against civilians. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4239820,00.htm

/begin my translation China: SLBM Test Launch Failed (the missile) fell back on the submarine and almost sank it. A few months ago in Yellow Sea, China conducted a secret test launch of Julang-2 SLBM, but failed, according to Jan. 25 report by Liberty Times of Taiwan. The missile with the range of 8,000 km, which can strike U.S. mainland, was mounted on a Golf-class submarine, and launched from underwater. However, after breaking out of water, its booster failed to fire up, and fell back down on the submarine. The submarine with 83 crews and displacement of 2,880 tons was...

Iran says launches missile with 2,000 km range 2 hrs 31 mins ago TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran launched a missile with a range of around 2,000 km (1,200 miles) on Wednesday and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the Islamic state could send any attacker "to hell," official media reported. The stated range of the surface-to-surface Sejil 2 missile would be almost as far as another Iranian missile, Shahab 3, and military analysts say it could enable Iran to reach Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf. The announcement is likely to arouse further concern in the West and Israel about Iran's...

U.S. official: North Korea might be making missile preparations From Barbara Starr CNN Pentagon Correspondent WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. spy satellite snapped an image within the last several days of preparations at a North Korean missile site previously used for Taepodong-2 missile launch operations, a senior U.S. official told CNN Tuesday. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, right, in an undated photo that the state news agency released Saturday. The photograph shows North Korea assembling telemetry equipment at the site -- equipment that would be needed for a launch to take place, the official said, adding that so far,...

Gates jokes about North Korean missile test /snip "Since the first time that they launched the missile it flew for a few minutes before crashing, the range of the Taepodong-2 remains to be seen," Gates told reporters during a Pentagon news conference. "So far, it's very short." /snip

Iran tests medium-range missile in naval war games by Staff Writers Tehran (AFP) Dec 7, 2008 Iran said that it has test fired on Sunday a surface-to-surface missile during manoeuvres in the Sea of Oman, the Fars news agency reported. A missile-launcher warship fired the medium-range, surface-to-surface Nasr 2 (victory) missile which hit its target at a 30-kilometre (18 miles) distance, according to the report. The news agency did not elaborate on the specific range of the missile, only adding that it was tested for the first time. Iran has test fired missle weaponry several times in the past few...

/begin my translation N. Korea: Indication of another missile test (Kyodo News) U.S. "spotted training activities at a base near Pyongyang" According to Apr. 13 dispatch of Kyodo News, U.S. military intelligence has picked up lots of movements in a recent few days near a missile launch base at Shinori located to the N. West of Pyongyang. It reported that U.S. spy satellite has been watching over the N. Korean movements, which also spotted their training activities at the base. U.S. military has not determined what these activities are for, but some suspect that N. Korea is preparing for...