08.30.17

ICYMI: Sullivan Discusses North Korean Threat on CNN

ANCHORAGE, AK – U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) was interviewed by CNN’s Kyung Lah regarding the escalating threat from North Korea and Senator Sullivan’s legislation, the Advancing America’s Missile Defense (AAMD) Act, which seeks to strengthen and improve the reliability, capability, and capacity of U.S. homeland missile defense. The CNN crew also met with members of the Alaska National Guard 49th Missile Defense Battalion, and toured the missile defense assets at Fort Greely, “home to America’s last resort against a launched ICBM.”

“Doing nothing in the face of this threat – when we clearly have the capability to make sure we have a very protected homeland – is not an acceptable option, and I think most Americans would agree with me on that,” said Senator Sullivan.

Senator Sullivan’s bipartisan AAMD Act, which now has 27 cosponsors in the Senate, would do the following:

  • Authorize the procurement of an additional 28 interceptors, and require our military to look at having up to 100 interceptors distributed across the U.S.
  • Authorize the more rapid development of new and better kill vehicles—the “bullets” that intercept warheads in space—and a layer of space-based radars to track missile threats from launch to intercept, a technological advancement that would improve all missile systems.
  • Push to better integrate our current and future ground-based radars that allow the U.S.—both independently and in concert with space-based capabilities—to have an “unblinking eye” when it comes to picturing an incoming missile with incredible detail and precisely target it for intercept.
  • Increase the pace of missile defense testing to allow U.S. forces to learn from actual launches of our defenses and increase confidence in the effectiveness of the system.

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