Weapons Tests

Your nation is technically at war with North Korea, among the most hostile countries on Earth. It has long threatened to turn your homeland into "rubble" and is making noises about launching a long-range ballistic test missile any day now. What do you think? Many South Koreans will tell you plainly: baloney.

North Korea test-fired several short-range missiles off its west coast today in a possible effort to show dissatisfaction toward the new South Korean government and lack of progress in nuclear disarmament talks. The missile launches, reported by Yonhap news agency citing unidentified government officials, came a day after the government in Pyongyang expelled South Korean experts at a joint industrial zone just north of the shared border.

The Chinese military shot down one of its own aging satellites with a ground-based ballistic missile last week, demonstrating a new technological capability at a time of growing Bush administration concern over Beijing's military modernization and its intentions in space. The shoot-down, which U.S. officials said occurred on the evening of Jan. 11, prompted a formal protest from Washington that was joined by allies including Canada and Australia, U.S. officials said Thursday.

The Bush administration demanded again Friday that China explain why it conducted a test of its growing anti-satellite capability last week, successfully destroying an obsolete orbiter in a move that alarmed many U.S. allies and brought diplomatic protests. The United States, Canada, Australia and Japan have questioned China's motives in launching a ground-based missile that destroyed one of its aging weather satellites about 500 miles above Earth.

Faced with international criticism, a Chinese official broke a two-week silence and confirmed that his government had successfully tested an anti-satellite weapon but insisted the action was not intended to threaten other countries. China's explanation did not satisfy the Bush administration, which said officials should provide more information.

Facing opposition from two Western states, the Pentagon on Thursday scrapped plans for a 700-ton non-nuclear test blast that would have produced the first mushroom cloud of dust over the Nevada desert in decades. Officials in Nevada and Utah said there was concern that the blast would scatter decades-old radioactive material from previous Cold War-era tests. The Defense Department said it would find other ways to test the nation's ability to penetrate underground bunkers.

China's anti-satellite test in January increased the country's military threat to Taiwan by demonstrating a limited ability to blind the U.S. satellites that would be deployed in defense of the island, according to a report by an independent private research group to be released today. "The test is a vivid example of how China's emerging military capabilities will complicate the strategic environment confronting U.S.

Russia tested new missiles that First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov boasted could penetrate any defense system. Ivanov said Russia tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads, and successfully conducted a "preliminary" test of a cruise missile with an extended range. The former defense minister is seen as a potential successor to President Vladimir V. Putin. Russia has bristled at U.S.

Iran successfully tested its second new torpedo, the latest weapon to be unveiled during war games in the Persian Gulf that the military said were aimed at preparing the country's defenses against the United States. The torpedo, believed to be more powerful and capable of going deeper than others in Iran's arsenal, was tested in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for oil supplies.

Iran said Wednesday that it had successfully test-fired a "top secret" missile, the third in a week, state-run television reported. The report called the missile an "ultra-horizon" weapon and said it could be fired from all military helicopters and jet fighters. It gave no other details. Iran said this week that it tested a surface-to-sea radar-evading missile with remote control and searching systems, state TV reported.