Rotarians present in the room quickly raised their hands in a competitive fashion as soon as our fellow Rotarian and today’s speaker concluded his presentation with “Are there any questions?” Their eagerness demonstrates the interest provoked by Lee Meyers’s topic: North Korea and U.S.A. Defense / Offense Capabilities. A timely subject to be discussed as North Korea fills the front pages of many world’s newspapers as it has successfully demonstrated ballistic abilities to strike the United States.
Today, we were educated about the power of our Country’s war arsenal and the chilling effects a war can have on humanity. Lee Meyer, a retired aerospace engineer, who contributed to the development of rockets during his career, was our speaker. “North Korea’s threats are to be taken seriously,” Lee boldly stated during his presentation. Our “rocket scientist” explained how the U.S.A. is definitely both able to attack with sophisticated and powerful missiles and defend itself by deploying weapons designed to intercept and destroy offenses made to our land. Our current defense arsenal has a very high probability of intercepting an ICBM (Inter Continental Ballistic Missile) launched against the U.S.A. and destroy it within minutes while in the air. American S.B.I.R.S. (Spaced Based Infra Red System) provides an early warning by detecting, monitoring trajectory, and determining the point of impact of any missile launched toward us. Terminal air defense missiles such as P.A.C. 3, T.H.A.A.D., Aegis Standard Missile SM 3, and G.B.M.D. offer counter-attack at different altitudes and distances with great accuracy. Lee also dedicated some time to describing two nuclear armed missiles in the service of our military power: Minuteman III and Trident II. These two bombs would be considered in case of an attack to an enemy Country with the sole purpose of creating enormous damage larger than Hiroshima’s.
Lee Meyer’s topic fascinated the members with its description of U.S. weapons but soberly reminded everyone in the room of the frightening remarks we have become accustomed to hearing and the devastating consequences a nuclear war could, once again, shed on human history. Thank you Lee for your presentation.