Click to see full-size image. (The Korean Central News Agency)
North Korea had tested new tactical ballistic missiles with super-large warheads and modified cruise missiles, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on September 18.
The tests to improve weapons capabilities are required because of the grave threat posed by outside forces to the security of the country, leader Kim Jong Un, who led the tests, was quoted by the state-run news agency as saying.
The North Korean leader also stressed “the need to continue to bolster up the nuclear force and have the strongest military technical capability and overwhelming offensive capability in the field of conventional weapons too.”
The tests involved the new tactical ballistic Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5 missiles, KCNA said, indicating it was part of a series of short-range ballistic missiles it had been developing. The missile was armed with a 4.5-ton super-large conventional warhead, according to the news agency.
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- Click to see full-size image. (The Korean Central News Agency)
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- Click to see full-size image. (The Korean Central News Agency)
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- Click to see full-size image. (The Korean Central News Agency)
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- Click to see full-size image. (The Korean Central News Agency)
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- Click to see full-size image. (The Korean Central News Agency)
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- Click to see full-size image. (The Korean Central News Agency)
This was the second time the North test-launched missiles in a week. Last week, North Korea also unveiled a uranium enrichment facility, in its first such public report.
South Korea’s military said on September 19 that two ballistic missiles landed in a mountainous area in the North’s northeast.
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- Click to see full-size image. (The Korean Central News Agency)
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- Click to see full-size image. (The Korean Central News Agency)
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- Click to see full-size image. (The Korean Central News Agency)
Inter-Korean relations are currently at one of their lowest points in years. Pyongyang increased weapon tests in recent months and declared South Korea its “principal enemy.” Washington also accused North Korea of providing munitions and military equipment to Russia to help boost its operations in Ukraine.
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hmhmhm. i have some problems with the north korea statement. it is not necessary to boost payload of missiles today. what makes a good missile is a, hypersonic speed b, evasive maneuvers, c, precision and reliable guiding d, easy and fast operability e, electronic countermeasures. even 1 ton warhead (conventional) means 350kt of nuclear equivalent which is more then enough to knock out anything with the precision guiding around 20 meters.
it is more effective to distribute nuclear deterrence to (for example) 5 smaller missiles with 1ton payload, which are able to create a swarm and evade any existing anti missile system with their hypersonic speed and agility and which can benefit from protecting each other with electronic protection. track 5 separate targets is more complex then tracking one massive missile. but if north korea want to create huge 1mt missiles and send swarms of them on their enemies, it may work as well
…are the payloads of hypersonic missiles not lower because they consume more fuel and thus the tank is larger ?
anyway hs missile can hit targets even without explosives, because formula of kinetic energy is e = (mv2)/2 or (mass = velocity x velocity)/2
if we have 2-ton missile with 1000 km/h speed (278 m/s), it’s ekin = (2000 x 278 x 278)/2 ~77 megajoules.
ekin of 2-ton missile with hs speed 5×343 m/s = (2000 x 1715 x 1715)/2 ~ 2941 megajoules
blast energy of 1kg tnt ~4,2 mj as minimum, so the impact of 2-ton hs missile with 6000 km/h speed is equal to energy of 700 kg tnt. it’s like a meteorite. bolides have no explosives, but can manage huge damage in populated area.
there are probably technical problems for a country like dprk in reducing warhead size and weight.
nothing more asian than compensating with a ‘super large’ warhead.
glad to see nk military leadership diligently practicing their finger pointing skills.
the people of south korea are not pyongyang’s enemy. they are the same people. it is those who control south korea and thus its people, who are the true enemy. they couldn’t care less about the people, north or south.
trumpo said that the south koreans couldn’t go to the bathroom without amerikunt permission.
the fact that the missile can take a 4.5 ton warhead may be significant in the following way. that was about the size of the 1945 atom bombs dropped by b29s. it can be difficult to reduce their size and weight to fit on a missile. the 200 ton sarmat has a payload of 10 tons, typically 10 x 1 ton warheads. so if it can take a 4.5 ton warhead, miniaturisation would not be a great problem for a single warhead.