US deploys radar in response to North Korean missile threat

The Pentagon has deployed high-tech radar to surveil any potential threat of North Korean long-range-missile launch in the coming months, according to a U.S .defence official.

It is the first time that the U.S. military is responding to Pyongyang's claim that it could launch an intercontinental ballistic missile directed towards American shores, reports the CNN.

The sea-based X-band radar (SB-X) is able to track the long-range launches and provide crucial data.

The radar, whose home port is in Hawaii, has been deployed several times in the past to monitor North Korean missile activity. But it can only remain at sea for a certain, undisclosed, period of time, so military officials try to calculate the most significant times, the official said.

Generally the SB-X is sent north of Hawaii and stationed about halfway to Alaska for the optimum spot to track a potential North Korean missile launch headed for Alaska, Guam or the West Coast of the United States.

According to the official, additional surveillance assets are also being identified to monitor activity on the Korean Peninsula.

The SB-X radar will increase the US ability to collect that type of missile data.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his New Year's Eve speech had said the test launch of an ICBM is in its final stages.

However, the U.S. officials continue to say they do not believe the North Koreans have mastered the technology needed for the missile to re-enter the atmosphere.