@snoopydawg I've been looking but can't find it. One dated Rand report says in 1996 dollars 33.5 million (that's without the warheads). Who knows what this costs now.

US test launches unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile
By The Associated Press Feb. 10

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. — An unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile has been launched from California to test the defense system, the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command said.

The Minuteman III missile lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 11:01 p.m. Thursday and its reentry vehicle traveled about 4,200 miles over the Pacific Ocean to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, an Air Force statement said.

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2023/02/10/us-test-lau...

I hadn't heard of any North Korean missile tests recently. Kim Jong-un was preoccupied with the parade preparations in which ICBM mockups are displayed. I guess the US wants him to start up again.

In other news:

CNN Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged then-President Donald Trump not to relent with North Korea and to keep up the threat of military pressure, according to his memoir.

In his posthumously published book “Abe Shinzo: Kaikoroku,” Abe details his meetings with Trump and exposes the then-president’s thought process when it came to negotiations with North Korea and strategic defense matters in Asia.

“I kept telling him, ‘What Kim Jong Un fears most is that suddenly a Tomahawk shot will cost him his life, his family’s life. I kept telling Trump that only the US can put pressure on him to use force,’” Abe writes in his Japanese language memoir, according to an English translation.

Abe recalled that there were concerns that Trump would convey to Kim, the North Korean leader, that he was reluctant to take military action, and both Abe and Trump’s national security team were keen to make sure that the world did not find out about it.

“If Kim Jong Un finds out that Trump is someone who is reluctant to take military action, then the pressure will be off...

So Make Japan Great Again didn't agree with Make America Great Again? The crazy Abe/John Bolton militaristic reasoning in this article is stunning. Keep piling on the threats, so Kim will feel threatened enough to stop his nuclear weapons buildup???? I don' t get it.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/10/politics/shinzo-abe-memoir-trump/index.html

Thae Yong-ho and other people who know about North Korea say that the North Korean deterrent is a "dead hand" automatic nuclear response to any military attack on the leadership. There is also the problem, where people usually don't know exactly where he is. Where's Kim? Is he dead? He must be sick. These stories pop up regularly in US media. In the last episode in which the US media reported that South Korean Pyongyang watchers were wondering the same thing, I didn't hear one South Korean report on this subject even though I try to stay abreast of their news on daily basis.

Don't really like Nikkei, don't subscribe, and the report isn't timely but-

SEOUL -- South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) has launched a large campaign to break up North Korea's espionage network. The spy agency raided the head office of the country's militant labor federation to crack down on underground subversion rings set up by the North. The move, spearheaded by President Yoon Suk Yeol, illuminates growing antagonism between conservative and liberal camps.

On the morning of Jan. 18, hundreds of police officers surrounded the headquarters in central Seoul of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), which backs the nation's liberal opposition camp.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Seoul-intensifies-crackdown-on-North-Ko...

Using the National Security Law to squash labor.

I posted an example of the standard US fare on North Korea. The fact that experts don't believe there is evidence his daughter is being groomed for power won't disturb the story line. Also, the notion that he only wants to preserve his dynasty rather than the lives of millions of Koreans belies the history of the US massive bombing campaign during the Korean conflict which killed millions.

The pentagon is investing $100 billion for pins in case China keeps sending more balloons at us.

Multiple F-35s shot down in 3-hour dogfight with Chinese balloon

In a failed mission to stop a Chinese balloon from infiltrating American airspace, sources say at least seven U.S. F-35 fighter aircraft were shot down by the object in a harrowing 3-hour dogfight this weekend.

The balloon was too fast, too maneuverable, too heavily armed. Our F-35s didn’t stand a chance,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Brown said. “We were goddamn sitting ducks out there, and it picked us off one-by-one.”

Despite the inexplicable nature of a balloon flying all the way from China to the U.S. and shooting down seven stealth aircraft, the Chinese government has denied accusations of hostile intent.

But the fifth-generation aircraft’s first test in a real-world battle proved otherwise. Three of the F-35s were shot down as soon as they came within range of the balloon. Another two were ripped to shreds after smashing into its centimeter-thick nylon skin. The final two were downed accidentally by a newlywed couple on a hot air balloon tour in Pennsylvania.

“If there’s one thing we’ve learned from all this, it’s that our nation will not be safe until our skies are filled with lots of sharp pointy objects,” Brown said. “Sure, it’ll be loud and make us all jump out of our seats when those things go ‘pop,’ but it’ll be worth it.”