MILITARY
U.S. spending billions to deter North Korean attack
December 7, 2017 - The Trump administration is responding to the threat of a North Korean attack by spending $12.4 billion on existing defence systems and new strategies to defeat Pyongyang’s long-range missiles.
The White House has made an emergency budget request for $4 billion to deal with North Korea, in addition to an annual budget of $8 billion already granted to the U.S. Missile Defence Agency.
A further $440 million was moved from other programmes to anti-missile work in October, as the North Korean threat became more serious.
The U.S. envisions stepping up cyberattacks to interfere with the North’s control systems before missiles are launched, as well as drones and fighter jets to shoot them down moments after liftoff. The missile defence network on the West Coast would be expanded for use if everything else fails.