That is a really old pic... Try this one:

I'm dubious that we could shoot down a long range missile from NK. Sure, the technology might be right on the cusp of non-scripted trials, but there's a big additional hurdle.

The kid at the launch console has to get permission to hit the red button. It's so easy to imagine the LT at the mountain top radar site contacting the CPT and telling him "NK missile launch" and the CPT saying "Are you sure? I need you to confirm this". Then 5min later CPT tries to call LTC, but he's asleep so talks to duty officer instead. Duty officer has no authority to launch missiles so sends a runner to go wake up the LTC.....etc etc. By the time each level in the chain of command has talked to their boss, only to be told "I need confirmation", and that confirmation going all the way down, then all they way back up, A WEEK COULD PASS.

When I was a young 2LT patrolling the Korean DMZ, we had Bn Mortars in Direct Support. That means that they were monitoring the Co Freq ready to engage in support of us immediately. But......release authority was at the Army level. So altho I could call for support, I wouldn't get it until I talked to my boss the Co Cdr. He'd, of course, want confirmation because I screwed up as much as any other 2Lt. Then the Co Cdr would have to get teh Bn Duty officer to get the Bn Cdr out of bed, who'd want confirmation. Then the Bn Cdr would have to get Bde duty officer to get the Bde Cdr out of bed, then the Division Cdr, and finally the Army Cdr.

We 2LT's thought it was pretty funny that we were being told that we had 4.2" mortars in Direct Support, but that release authority was so high up that it would take 48hrs before anything went "boom".

Welcome to US military "Release Authority".

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"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart

You were responsible for Offensive weapons...

This is different. Because the reaction time is measured in seconds, they are trained for this mission to succeed.

Multiple THAAD tests were operational with the Soldiers running everything with the same methods as the deployed sites.

What happens if North Korea launches 2 or 3 missiles at the same time?

THAAD has capability for a mass raid environment.

"This was the 14th successful intercept in 14 attempts for the THAAD system since 2005. THAAD is highly effective at defending short-to-medium range ballistic missile attacks and against mass raid scenarios. With a first successful IRBM intercept under its belt, THAAD continues on the trajectory for success."

Not a matter of training. It's a matter of the hierarchy being willing to let go of control. Hierarchy's aren't good at that.

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Books @ Amazon
"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart

happens . . . These two bullets were found after the Battle of Gallipoli which started in 1915 and ended in 1916 during WWI.

That's impressive! :-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

THAAD Intercepts Test Target17-NEWS-0008
July 30, 2017
A medium-range target ballistic missile (MRBM) was air-launched by a U.S. Air Force C-17 over the Pacific Ocean. The THAAD weapon system located at Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska in Kodiak, Alaska, detected, tracked and intercepted the target.
The test, designated Flight Experiment THAAD (FET)-01, was conducted to gather threat data from a THAAD interceptor in flight.

"In addition to successfully intercepting the target, the data collected will allow MDA to enhance the THAAD weapon system, our modeling and simulation capabilities, and our ability to stay ahead of the evolving threat," said MDA Director Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves.
Soldiers from the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade conducted launcher, fire control and radar operations using the same procedures they would use in an actual combat scenario. Soldiers operating the equipment were not aware of the actual target launch time.
This was the 15th successful intercept in 15 tests for the THAAD weapon system.

https://www.mda.mil/news/17news0008.html

Looks like only one of those bullets was fired - I'll bet the one with no rifling marks was in someone's cartridge belt when it was struck.

That pic was really cool. <salute>

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"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart

It's absolutely a matter of training. The doctrine is in place, and the top cover extends all the way to Presidential Executive Orders.

I've been on quick reaction forces many times, and have called for QRF support a couple times. Nothing moves fast. There's always several iterations of "pls confirm" and "are you sure", and then there's always a few hiccups because folks really aren't that ready. On TV, a QRF is poised at the door ready to launch out, but the reality is that humans can't maintain that degree of "poised at the door" be it a real door or at a electronics console of some kind. Folks attention wanders, they get up and walk around, the shoot the bull with their buddies, they go for a piss or a snack. Real world sand gets thrown into the gears of lightning response. Only if "everything" was automated, would the response be immed and I bet we'd have no stomach for that degree of "no human intervention" automatic response.

Later edit. I guess I'm just really cynical re. the military's ability to do something well and do it in a big hurry. Big bureaucracies of any kind are pretty dysfunctional and the military is no different. We got a lotta folks that charge hard and mean well, but the bureaucracy is brutal. All wins against it are only temporary.

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Books @ Amazon
"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart