"I do not think the timing of Iron Mace is in response to any particular event, but it is an overdue exercise to learn effective ways to prevent and counter a possible North Korean nuclear threat," said Chun In-bum, a retired lieutenant general in the South Korean army and now a senior fellow with the National Institute for Deterrence Studies. "And even though we may not be able to link these exercises with a single event in the North, it is clear that the North is becoming increasingly militarily capable and the alliance needs to be prepared for a possible nuclear scenario on the peninsula in order to prevent it," he told DW.
India on August 20 announced that it had successfully test-fired Agni-V, its intermediate-range ballistic missile, from a test range in Odisha on its eastern Bay of Bengal coast. The Agni-V, meaning fire in Sanskrit, is 17.5 metres long, weighs 50,000kg, and can carry more than 1,000kg of nuclear or conventional payload. Capable of travelling more than 5,000km at hypersonic speeds of nearly 30,000km per hour, it is among the fastest ballistic missiles in the world.
