Ismail Zitouny / Reuters
A team of Libyan experts and military engineers dump fuel from expired SA-2 missiles under the supervision of the United Nations in Tripoli, Nov. 11. Experts were assigned to dump the toxic chemicals found in the air defense missiles left over from the former Gadhafi regime.
Patrick Kovarik / AFP - Getty Images
A look at the life and times of Libya's mercurial and flamboyant leader
Ng Han Guan / AP, file
In this photo taken on April 15, 2012, what appears to be a new missile is carried during a mass military parade at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea. The photo shows the warhead's surface is undulated, suggesting it's a thin metal sheet unable to withstand flight pressure, analysts say.
The Associated Press reports — Analysts who have studied photos of a half-dozen ominous new North Korean missiles showcased recently at a lavish military parade say they were fakes, and not very convincing ones, casting further doubt on the country's claims of military prowess.
The weapons displayed April 15 appear to be a mishmash of liquid-fuel and solid-fuel components that could never fly together. Undulating casings on the missiles suggest the metal is too thin to withstand flight. Each missile was slightly different from the others, even though all were supposedly the same make. They don't even fit the launchers they were carried on.
Ng Han Guan / AP, file
Adding more doubt to North Korea's claims of military prowess after its flamboyant rocket launch failure, analysts say the half dozen missiles showcased at the military parade were low-quality fakes.
"There is no doubt that these missiles were mock-ups," Markus Schiller and Robert Schmucker, of Germany's Schmucker Technologie, wrote in a paper posted recently on the website Armscontrolwonk.com that listed those discrepancies. "It remains unknown if they were designed this way to confuse foreign analysts, or if the designers simply did some sloppy work." Read the full story.
David Guttenfelder / AP, file
North Korean civilians, some weeping, wave flowers as they look up at Kim Jong Un, unseen, at the end of the military parade on April 15, 2012.
Richard Engel, NBC's chief foreign correspondent, shares a rare and revealing look inside the reclusive kingdom of North Korea.
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Reuters TV / Reuters
An Iranian warship launches a missile in this still image taken from footage released by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) on Jan. 1.
The exercise covers a 1,250-mile stretch of water beyond the Strait of Hormuz, including parts of the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden.
The drill could bring Iranian ships into proximity with U.S. Navy vessels that operate in the same area.
Reuters TV / Reuters
Iranian warships take part in a naval drill in this still image taken from footage released by Islamic Republic of Iran News Network on Jan. 1.
Ismail Zitouni / Reuters
A MANPAD (Man-Portable Air Defense Systems) missile is detonated along the shore, east of the Libyan capital Tripoli, on Dec. 11. A top U.S. official said that a team of U.S. and Libyan bomb-disposal specialists has secured about 5,000 surface-to-air missiles.
Mahmud Turkia / AFP - Getty Images
Andrew Shapiro, U.S. assistant secretary of state for political and military affairs, second from right, and his delegation gather around MANPAD missiles in the village of Sidi Bin Nur, Libya, Dec. 11.
According to AP:
On Sunday, a team of U.S. weapons experts disposed of some 1,300 pounds (600 kilograms) of ordnance deep in the sand just outside Tripoli.
"Our goal is to help the Libyan people to secure these loose arms," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Andrew Shapiro, who was on hand to watch along with the U.S. ambassador.
He said that since September, American experts have disabled around 5,000 shoulder-fired missile launchers — weapons that Western and Libyan officials have expressed concerns about because they pose a threat to civil aviation.
Read the full story about today's happenings in Libya here.
Related content:
US Navy / Reuters
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52) launches a Tomahawk missile in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn in the Mediterranean Sea in this handout photo taken March 19. This was one of approximately 110 cruise missiles fired from US and British ships and submarines that targeted about 20 radar and anti-aircraft sites along Libya's Mediterranean coast. Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn is the US Africa Command task force established to provide operational and tactical command and control of US military forces supporting the international response to the unrest in Libya and enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1973.
Read more about the events in Libya here.
Arno Burgi / EPA
A Soviet radar-controlled C-75 Dvina Surface to Air Missile dating the 1950s is delivered to German Bundeswehr's Museum of Military History in Dresden, Germany on Dec10. Three Soviet SAMs form part of the new permanent exhibition.
Incoming! No, not really, but when I first saw the thumbnail-sized image of this it looked more like an attack than an installation.
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