But here's the point.
Even with guided missile ships, THAAD and AEGIS, shooting down a North Korean missile is not an absolute certainty.
This article speculates the US and Japan may just watch for that very reason.
Its 96 percent prediction of a successful shootdown however appears optimistic. Tests of
AEGIS have been highly engineered.
AFAIK it hasn't been subject to a `real-world' test yet? I may be wrong.
THAAD tests to date appear to be repleat with failures.
I realise that B-1s can be launched and retrieved within 15 minutes - all a crewman has to do is hit the Alert Start button on the nosewheel oleo and the APU will begin to power up all four engines as the crew climb the ladder.
To be clearer, my question was when does the US launch
and strike. Is the mere firing of a missile in your general direction to land relatively close to territory of yours provocation enough?
In Japan's case, no.
Is Guam different...?