North Korea is threatening a “merciless strike” against the U.S, while Donald Trump
has send USS Sterett to the South China Sea amid the conflict with Kim Jong-un.
North Korea has claimed that the US is trying to “suffocate” the country through economic sanctions.
Pyongyang’s foreign ministry released a statement accusing the U.S of blocking imports
of frozen chicken and other goods over its nuclear armament program.
Sanctions against North Korea were agreed upon by the United Nations after the U.S led
the discussions to punish the hermit state for its missile tests.
US relation with North Korea is going more and more downhill with every passing day and
chances of reversal is getting dimmer.
US has positioned a flotilla of warships in the Korean waters and now in a significant
move, it has deployed USS Sterett.
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes the capabilities of USS Sterett in 5 points and
understand why North Korea should fear it.
Lets get started.
The USS Sterett is the fourth ship of the U.S. Navy to be named after Andrew Sterett,
a U.S. naval officer who fought in the Quasi-War and the Barbary Wars.
USS Sterett Sterett ((DDG-104) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the
United States Navy.
Arleigh Burke-class warships were designed as multi mission destroyers capable of Anti
Aircraft Warfare (AAW), Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) and Anti Surface warfare (ASuW).
USS Sterett was build by Bath Iron Worksand and was commissioned on 9 August 2008.
USS Sterett being an Arleigh Burke class destroyer is among the largest destroyers in the world.
It has an overall length 509 feet (155 m) and displacement of about 9,200 tons.
It has a speed of 30+ knots (55+ km/h) and range of 4,400 nmi (8,100 km)
North Korea has no warship, which is even close to USS Sterett in its stature.
North Korean largest warships are Najin-class frigates, which have a displacement of around 1600 tons.
It has two of these.
The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers is the United States Navy's first
class of destroyer built around the Aegis Combat System.
The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System is a United States DOD (Department of Defense)
Missile Defense Agency program developed to provide missile defense against short to intermediate-range
ballistic missiles.
Aegis BMD is designed to intercept ballistic missiles post-boost phase and prior to reentry.
It enables USS Sterett to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles by expanding the Aegis
Combat System with the addition of the AN/SPY-1 radar and Standard missile technologies.
Aegis BMD-equipped vessels can transmit their target detection information to other systems
and, if needed, engage potential threats using either the SM-2 or SM-3 missile.
SM-3 missile having range of 2,500 km & speed of Mach 10.2 is expected to be particularly
effective against North Korean missiles like Nodong missiles, Musudan and Taepodong that
have short to intermediate range.
The heart of the AEGIS systems on board the USS Sterett is an advanced, automatic detect
and track, multifunctional phased-array radar, the AN/SPY-1.
This high-powered (4 MW) radar is able to perform search, track and missile guidance
functions simultaneously with a capability of over 100 targets.
A conventional, mechanically rotating radar "sees" a target when the radar beam strikes
that target once during each 360-degree rotation of the antenna.
A separate tracking radar is then required to engage each target.
By contrast, the computer-controlled AN/SPY-1A Phased Array Radar of the AEGIS system brings
these functions together within one system.
The phased array can concentrate energy where it is needed.
The operator can boost the range and resolution in a particular direction without blinding
the ship to threats from another side.
The 4 fixed arrays of "SPY" send out beams of electromagnetic energy in all directions
simultaneously, continuously providing a search and tracking capability for hundreds of target
at the same time.
North Korean air force has relatively old and non-stealthy aircrafts like MiG-29, MiG-23,
MiG-21, Chengdu J-7 etc.
This radar is expected to track these from as far as 300 km.
USS Sterett is one of the most heavily armed destroyers in the world.
USS Sterett is designed to be a multi weapons platform:
It has 96 cell Mk 41 VLS, which can be configured with the combination of the following weapons, based on mission.
1.Tomahawk cruise missile for Land attack
2. RIM-66M Standard medium range SAM for air defense
3. SM2 or SM 3 Standard Ballistic missile AEGIS ballistic missile defense
It also has 2 × Mk 141 Harpoon Missile Launcher for Anti Ship role.
2 × Mark 32 triple torpedo tubes are present launching Mk-46 or Mk-50 torpedoes
2 MH-60R Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters are also present for Anti Submarine Warfare.
The North Korean military is in possession of a fleet of about 70 submarines, comprised
of approximately 20 Romeo class submarines (1,800 tons), 40 Sang-O class submarines (300
tons) and 10 Yono class submarines (130 tons).
The strong Anti Submarine Warfare capabilities is specifically important keeping in view
the submarine fleet of North.
Two US supersonic bombers were flown over the Korean peninsula in a show of force with
Japanese and South Korean fighter jets.
Donald Trump’s administration are locked in negotiations with diplomats and defense
chiefs from Beijing as they look for ways to avoid a “catastrophic war” with the hermit nation.
The US President Trump ratcheted up the rhetoric by tweeting that China’s efforts to help
put pressure on North Korea have “not worked out”.
As per most experts, the peaceful options are getting exhausted and may ultimately led
to a conflict.
Till now U.S has refrained from using forced due to multiple factors.
To know more about them, check the video on above card.
United States Secretary of Defense, James Mattis made clear that the US was nearing
the end of its rope in dealing with North Korea, saying: "We're exhausting all possible
diplomatic efforts in this regard."