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Pyongyang making ICBM gains: report
Agence France-Presse
Originally published at
Pyongyang making ICBM gains: report | The Japan Times
Posted on November 5, 2013 by editor
SEOUL – North Korea is making progress on an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a first-generation nuclear warhead to the continental United States, a leading U.S. think tank said Tuesday.
The closely followed 38 North website of the Johns Hopkins University’s U.S.-Korea Institute argued that ICBM mock-ups seen at recent military parades in Pyongyang were “less fake” than originally believed.
Numerous experts had widely ridiculed the models of the North’s road-mobile KN-08 ICBM seen in 2012 and July this year, with at least one respected aerospace engineer labeling them technically preposterous and a “big hoax.”
An analysis posted by 38 North disagreed, saying they were consistent with the ongoing development of a missile with a limited intercontinental ability using only existing North Korean technology.
“Elegant or not,” the mock-ups suggest an ability to assemble components and technologies to produce missiles with theoretical ranges of 5,500 km to more than 11,000 km.
“Almost all of the configurations examined would be able to deliver a light, first-generation nuclear warhead at least as far as Seattle,” it said.
The analysis was co-written by nonproliferation expert Jeffrey Lewis and aerospace engineer John Schilling.
The authors noted that glaring discrepancies in KN-08 mock-ups displayed in 2012 had largely disappeared by the time of the July parade.
And the new arrangement of welds and rivets was similar to that seen on recovered debris from the North’s Unha-3 carrier, which successfully placed a satellite in orbit in December last year.
In a separate, technical paper published in Science and Global Security, Schilling stressed that the KN-08 was still very much a missile in development.
“The lack of flight testing strongly suggests that operational deployment is still months or years in the future,” the engineer said.
And even with a successful test program, it would likely be unreliable, limited in mobility and performance, and available only in small numbers, he added.
Lewis and Schilling’s paper referenced recent analysis of satellite imagery indicating that North Korea was upgrading its main missile launch site, possibly to cater to larger, mobile weapons.
South Korea’s Defense Intelligence Agency told parliament on Tuesday that North Korea had conducted five tests of long-range rocket engines this year.
An initial test of the KN-08 could come “at any time,” Schilling said.
Missile delivery has often been cited as the main weakness of the North’s nuclear weapons program which, after three tests, is believed to be close to mastering the key technology of warhead miniaturization.
December’s satellite launch caused serious concern, but experts stressed that it lacked the re-entry technology needed to bring an ICBM down onto a target.
Nevertheless, Lewis and Schiller said dismissing the mock-ups paraded in Pyongyang would be dangerous.
“The simplest explanation here is that the (KN-08) is exactly what it appears to be: a developmental road-mobile ICBM of limited capability but still able to threaten the continental United States,” they said.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s spy agency said Monday that the North is using Russian technology to develop electromagnetic pulse weapons aimed at paralyzing military electronic equipment south of the border.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a report to parliament that the North had purchased Russian electromagnetic pulse weaponry to develop its own versions.
EMP weapons are used to damage to electronic equipment. At higher energy levels, an EMP event can cause more widespread damage including to aircraft structures and other objects.
In an unusual admission Monday by the secretive regime, a North Korean state newspaper said a number of sailors were killed when a warship sank during “combat duties” last month.
The Rodong Sinmun gave no figures for the number of dead. But photographs of gravestones in Saturday’s website edition suggested about 15-20 may have died.
The paper showed solemn-faced leader Kim Jong Un laying flowers at a cemetery specially created for victims of the incident, who “met heroic deaths while performing their combat duties.”
Pyongyang making ICBM gains: report | Missile ThreatMissile Threat
Agence France-Presse
Originally published at
Pyongyang making ICBM gains: report | The Japan Times
Posted on November 5, 2013 by editor
SEOUL – North Korea is making progress on an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a first-generation nuclear warhead to the continental United States, a leading U.S. think tank said Tuesday.
The closely followed 38 North website of the Johns Hopkins University’s U.S.-Korea Institute argued that ICBM mock-ups seen at recent military parades in Pyongyang were “less fake” than originally believed.
Numerous experts had widely ridiculed the models of the North’s road-mobile KN-08 ICBM seen in 2012 and July this year, with at least one respected aerospace engineer labeling them technically preposterous and a “big hoax.”
An analysis posted by 38 North disagreed, saying they were consistent with the ongoing development of a missile with a limited intercontinental ability using only existing North Korean technology.
“Elegant or not,” the mock-ups suggest an ability to assemble components and technologies to produce missiles with theoretical ranges of 5,500 km to more than 11,000 km.
“Almost all of the configurations examined would be able to deliver a light, first-generation nuclear warhead at least as far as Seattle,” it said.
The analysis was co-written by nonproliferation expert Jeffrey Lewis and aerospace engineer John Schilling.
The authors noted that glaring discrepancies in KN-08 mock-ups displayed in 2012 had largely disappeared by the time of the July parade.
And the new arrangement of welds and rivets was similar to that seen on recovered debris from the North’s Unha-3 carrier, which successfully placed a satellite in orbit in December last year.
In a separate, technical paper published in Science and Global Security, Schilling stressed that the KN-08 was still very much a missile in development.
“The lack of flight testing strongly suggests that operational deployment is still months or years in the future,” the engineer said.
And even with a successful test program, it would likely be unreliable, limited in mobility and performance, and available only in small numbers, he added.
Lewis and Schilling’s paper referenced recent analysis of satellite imagery indicating that North Korea was upgrading its main missile launch site, possibly to cater to larger, mobile weapons.
South Korea’s Defense Intelligence Agency told parliament on Tuesday that North Korea had conducted five tests of long-range rocket engines this year.
An initial test of the KN-08 could come “at any time,” Schilling said.
Missile delivery has often been cited as the main weakness of the North’s nuclear weapons program which, after three tests, is believed to be close to mastering the key technology of warhead miniaturization.
December’s satellite launch caused serious concern, but experts stressed that it lacked the re-entry technology needed to bring an ICBM down onto a target.
Nevertheless, Lewis and Schiller said dismissing the mock-ups paraded in Pyongyang would be dangerous.
“The simplest explanation here is that the (KN-08) is exactly what it appears to be: a developmental road-mobile ICBM of limited capability but still able to threaten the continental United States,” they said.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s spy agency said Monday that the North is using Russian technology to develop electromagnetic pulse weapons aimed at paralyzing military electronic equipment south of the border.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a report to parliament that the North had purchased Russian electromagnetic pulse weaponry to develop its own versions.
EMP weapons are used to damage to electronic equipment. At higher energy levels, an EMP event can cause more widespread damage including to aircraft structures and other objects.
In an unusual admission Monday by the secretive regime, a North Korean state newspaper said a number of sailors were killed when a warship sank during “combat duties” last month.
The Rodong Sinmun gave no figures for the number of dead. But photographs of gravestones in Saturday’s website edition suggested about 15-20 may have died.
The paper showed solemn-faced leader Kim Jong Un laying flowers at a cemetery specially created for victims of the incident, who “met heroic deaths while performing their combat duties.”
Pyongyang making ICBM gains: report | Missile ThreatMissile Threat
