The United States simulated an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) attack on its homeland by the nuclear-armed North Korea last week at a strategic base located in Alaska.

The missile defense simulation was conducted during Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll’s visit to Fort Greely. Newsweek has contacted the U.S. Army for further comment by email.

The North Korean Embassy in China did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Why It Matters

North Korea is one of the nine nations armed with nuclear weapons, and the country has an estimated 50 warheads. In October last year, it test-launched an ICBM that has a potential range of up to 9,320 miles, an expert said, capable of launching a nuclear attack on the U.S. mainland.

The U.S. has established the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system to defend the homeland against North Korean ICBM attacks. A total of 64 interceptor silos were built at Fort Greely and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California for targeting incoming missiles.

The Trump administration is pushing for the so-called “Iron Dome for America,” a next-generation missile defense shield that will defend against the threat of attack by ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, as well as other advanced aerial attacks.

What To Know

Driscoll visited two bases in Alaska, Fort Wainwright and Fort Greely, from April 23 to 24, according to photos released by the U.S. Army Public Affairs Office on its Flickr account.

During his visit at Fort Greely, the secretary “received a briefing on the GMD missile crew tactics, techniques, and procedures utilized by the crews operating the GMD Fire Control System during a simulated ICBM attack against the United States,” the U.S. Army revealed.

John Plumb, who served as assistant secretary of defense for space policy from 2022 to 2024, said in a speech in April last year that the GMD is designed to protect the homeland, including Hawaii and Alaska, against ICBM threats from North Korea and potentially Iran.

However, the GMD is neither intended for, nor capable of, defeating what it called “the large and sophisticated ICBM, air-, or sea-launched ballistic missile threats” from both Russia and China, said the 2022 Missile Defense Review, which is the Pentagon‘s strategic document.

Russia and China each possess hundreds of long-range ballistic missile launchers, while the North Korean ICBM force’s operational status remains uncertain due to untrustworthy or limited public sources, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

According to a military observer on X, formerly Twitter, several photos show Driscoll inspecting what appears to be a Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) storage facility, where two interceptors were placed.

The GBI is a missile equipped with a payload, also known as the kill vehicle, which will be released in space toward the warhead carried by an ICBM, using the kinetic force of the direct collision to destroy the target warhead, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said.

What People Are Saying

The 2022 Missile Defense Review read: “Missile defense systems such as the GMD offer a visible measure of protection for the U.S. population while reassuring Allies and partners that the United States will not be coerced by threats to the homeland from states like North Korea and potentially Iran … Should deterrence fail, missile defenses can help mitigate damage to the homeland and help protect the U.S. population.”

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency said: “The midcourse phase begins when the enemy missile’s booster burns out and it begins coasting in space toward its target. This phase can last as long as 20 minutes, allowing several opportunities to destroy the incoming ballistic missile outside the earth’s atmosphere. Any debris remaining after the intercept will burn up as it enters the atmosphere.”

What Happens Next

It remains to be seen whether the U.S. will further expand its missile defense system to cope with the threats posed by its nuclear adversaries to its homeland and overseas military bases.