Tag: missile test

I would think the Chinese would not be too happy with the North Koreans trying to draw attention away from the G-20 Summit they are currently hosting, but obviously the Kim regime cares little about what the Chinese think:

North Korea on Monday fired three medium-range missiles that traveled about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) and landed near Japan in an apparent show of force timed to coincide with the Group of 20 economic summit in China, South Korean officials said.

North Korea has staged a series of recent missile tests with increasing range, part of a program that aims to eventually build long-range nuclear missiles capable of striking the U.S. mainland.

Such tests are fairly common when international attention is turned to Northeast Asia, and this one came as world leaders gathered in eastern China for the G-20 summit of advanced and emerging economies. China is North Korea’s only major ally, but ties between the neighbors have frayed amid a string of North Korean nuclear and missile tests and what many outsiders see as other provocations in recent years.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the three ballistic missiles, all believed to be Rodongs, were launched from the western North Korean town of Hwangju and flew across the country before splashing into the sea.  [Associated Press]

You can read more at the link, but all these missile launches do is further justify South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s decision to deploy the THAAD missile defense system to the ROK against Chinese objections.

Considering where North Korea fired from and where the missiles landed it appears the North Koreans were trying to test as much of the range as possible.  They are additionally continuing their signaling to the ROK and Japan that their missiles work and have the range to hit anywhere in their two countries:

Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile that flew around 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) and landed in waters in Japan’s exclusive economic zone Wednesday morning, according to military officials.

At around 7:50 a.m., Pyongyang launched the missile from Unryul County in southwestern South Hwanghae Province toward its eastern coast, said the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

It was presumed to be an intermediate-range Rodong missile, which has a range of up to 1,300 kilometers.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) determined that Pyongyang actually fired two intermediate-range missiles, but one exploded in midair immediately after launch.

The U.S. Strategic Command said in a statement that it detected “the simultaneous launch of two presumed intermediate-range ballistic missiles,” adding that one “exploded immediately after launch, while the second was tracked over North Korea and into the Sea of Japan,” which South Korea calls the East Sea.

“The missile that North Korea launched toward its east coast today flew over 1,000 kilometers and landed in Japan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ),” a JCS official said. Japan’s exclusive economic zone covers most of its ADIZ.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

As we have seen with other North Korean missiles the more they test, the better they get at mastering the technology:

North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) off its east coast on Saturday, but the missile failed in its initial flight stage, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

The missile was fired from waters southeast of the coastal port city of Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province, at around 11:30 a.m., according to the military.

“The SLBM was ejected from the submarine normally, but (we) estimate the initial flight was unsuccessful,” the JCS said in a brief press release.

“Our military strongly denounces such provocative acts by North Korea,” the JCS noted.

North Korea’s ballistic missile launches are direct violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions, including its Musudan missile launches on June 22 and the latest launch, the military said.

Military sources said the latest SLBM appears to have exploded at an altitude of some 10 kilometers after being fired from a submerged 2,000-ton Sinpo-class submarine.

The missile flew only a few kilometers before the presumed explosion, they said.

South Korea’s military said that North Korea has achieved progress in the initial undersea ejection stage of its SLBM technology.

The North is probably in the flight test stage of its SLBM before moving onto the final test phase that will require the missile to hit targets, the sources said.

The North may be ready to deploy its SLBMs for service in about three years, according to the military.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but out of all of North Korea’s missiles this is the most dangerous and a game changer because it can defeat missile defenses.  That is because submarines can fire without notice from any direction which prevents missile defense units from knowing in which direction to point their radars towards.

This photo carried by the North’s ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun on June 29, 2016, shows top leader Kim Jong-un posing with the people who contributed to the June 22 missile launch that the country claims was successful. Experts say flight analysis of the intermediate-range ballistic missile Hwasong-10, known as Musudan in the outside world, suggests advancement in the North’s missile technology. (Yonhap)

Ignition! @nknewsorg @ISNJH @Joshua_Pollack @DaveSchmerler @mhanham @ArmsControlWonk @38NorthNK @missiledefadv pic.twitter.com/1d1YUMk1vp

— Tal Inbar (@inbarspace) June 23, 2016

If North Korea continues with their heavy flight testing schedule this seems like it could be a realistic estimate:

North Korea’s missile launch was a “partial success” that suggests the provocative country could have a road-mobile ICBM capable of reaching the U.S. mainland by early next decade, a U.S. think tank says.

After failing in four previous tries, the North fired back-to-back Musudan missiles in just over two hours Wednesday. The first was considered another failure, but the second flew 620 to 880 miles high before falling into the Sea of Japan.

The actual distance traveled — 250 miles — was well short of its potential range that would put it within range of Japan and U.S. bases in the region. Experts said the missile was fired at a high angle to avoid provoking Japan, but the ability to achieve that altitude shows that the North Koreans are making technical progress.

The U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, in its 38north.org blog, called the test a “partial success.” But it noted that six tests since mid-April despite repeated failures suggest the Musudan is not the North’s long-term focus.

“This isn’t so much an engineering program so much as an exercise in tossing a coin or rolling a die until it comes up with the result they like,” analyst John Schilling wrote in Thursday’s post.

However, he said, it was the first time the Musudan’s engine, which is shared by North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missiles, was flight tested. Previous tests either crashed or exploded prematurely.

“This partial success increases the likelihood that North Korea’s KN-08 and KN-14 road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) will reach operational status early in the next decade,” he said.
“We still don’t expect them to have those missiles operational before 2020, but early flight testing by that date is increasingly likely,” he added.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

https://twitter.com/pearswick/status/745903052712976384

North Korea as expected fired off two more Musudan missiles.  The first one was considered a failure after it blew up shortly after launch.  However, the second launch analysts have not determined if it was successful or not:

North Korea launched what appeared to be two Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) from its east coast early Wednesday morning, with the first test-firing assumed to have been unsuccessful, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

At around 5:58 a.m., North Korea fired off what is presumed to be a Musudan missile from near Wonsan along the east coast, but it seems to have ended in failure, the JCS said, without further details

About two hours later at 8:05 a.m., the North launched another missile presumed to be the same type of IRBM from the same area, the JCS noted.

Whether the second missile’s launch was successful was not immediately known. All previous launches of the missile ended in failure, dealing a blow to the credibility of North Korea’s missile program.

On April 15, North Korea first test-fired the Musudan missile as the country kickstarted its ballistic missile tests and development following North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s much-published orders to accelerate the country’s nuclear and missile sophistication the previous month.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but the Joong Ang Ilbo is reporting the first one traveled 150 kilometers before exploding and the second one traveled 400 kilometers:

North Korea launched back-to-back Musudan missiles Wednesday, one of which flew 400 kilometers (250 miles), South Korean military officials said.

While 400 kilometers fell far short of the Musudan’s 3,500-kilometer capability, which puts U.S. military bases in the Pacific within range, South Korea was alarmed at the technological progress shown.

Pyongyang carried out its fifth and sixth intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) tests at 5:58 a.m. and 8:05 a.m. Wednesday from the eastern coast city of Wonsan in Kangwon Province, the Joint Chiefs of Staff reported.

“The first one disappeared after it was detected by radar while the second one flew about 400 kilometers,” said a Joint Chiefs of Staff official who asked not to be named.  (……..)

The South Korean military believes the first missile exploded in midair after flying about 150 kilometers. The second missile fired two hours later appeared to have exploded or crashed into the sea after flying 400 kilometers.

The exact causes of the failures are still being determined by Seoul and Washington.

It is possible that North Korea intended its sixth Musudan missile to fall after flying 400 kilometers to prevent it from going over Japan, which would have prompted the country to respond militarily.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but I doubt North Korea would try and fly a Musudan over Japan without being very confident that the missile would work.  They have fired over Japan before, but never with a missile under development like the Musudan is.  I don’t think Kim Jong-un would want to deal with a potential retaliatory military response if a failed missile landed in Japan.  It is pretty clear though that Kim Jong-un is committed to testing the Musudan until his scientists perfect the technology.  These latest missile tests seem to indicate they are getting closer to that goal.

It appears the North Koreans are determined to keep testing the Musudan until they get it to work:

North Korea is said to have deployed an intermediate-range missile to Wonsan, Gangwon Province on Tuesday.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said that it is closely monitoring the North for possible missile launches.

A military official said that such preparation follows four failed test-firings of Musudan intermediate-range missiles in April and May.

The military is said to believe that the North will launch a Musudan missile as early as Tuesday or Wednesday.  [KBS World Radio]

You can read more at the link, but four of these Musudans have exploded shortly after launch.  If they keep executing these tests the North Koreans will probably through trial and error eventually get it to work.  The significance of them getting this missile to work is that they can then range US military bases on Okinawa and Guam with the Musudan.

This most recent failure officially makes North Korea O for 4 for their road mobile Musudan Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) test launches:

North Korea apparently failed with an attempted missile launch Tuesday, the latest in a series of setbacks for a ballistic weapons programme that aspires to threaten the US mainland.

South Korea’s defence ministry detected the dawn launch effort, which Japan condemned as an unacceptable and “provocative” act.

The ministry declined to speculate on the missile type, but military sources cited by local media said it was a powerful, medium-range “Musudan” that has already undergone three failed launches this year.

UN resolutions ban North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology, although it regularly fires short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast.

Tuesday’s effort came with tensions still running high on the divided Korean peninsula following the North’s fourth nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch a month later.

“We believe that it was a failure,” said Jeon Ha-Gyu, spokesman for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“As to why and how it failed, we are in the process of analysing that,” Jeon told a press briefing.  [AFP]

You can read more at the link, but the AFP article did not state what happened with the launch.  The South Korean media on the other hand is reporting that the missile once again blew up on the launch pad:

Anchor: North Korea has again sought to fire a ballistic missile but the launch ended in failure. Sources have suggested that the missile exploded at a mobile launch pad immediately after the order for the launch was given. As it marked the fourth failed attempt in a row to launch the ballistic missile, the South Korean military is suspecting an engine defect.
Our Kim Bum-soo reports.

Report: North Korea has test-fired another ballistic missile but the launch ended in failure.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) said that the North Korean military fired a projectile off its east coast near the Wonsan region at around 5:20 a.m on Tuesday.

JCS officials said that the launch was unsuccessful. Other sources suggested the possibility that the missile exploded on its mobile launcher immediately after a fire button was pressed.  [KBS World Radio]

You can read more at the link, but the South Korean military believes their is a structural defect with the Russian BM-25 engine they modified for their Musudans.  Also according to the article it is believed that North Korea has 50 Musdudan missiles in their inventory.  At this rate they are going to blow them all up testing them.

What is even more significant about these failures is that their road mobile KN-08 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) could also be considered to be of low capability since it has never been tested.  The KN-08 is North Korea’s main weapon they use to threaten the United States with nuclear destruction.  If they cannot get their road mobile Musudan IRBM technology to work what are the chances that their road mobile ICBM works to threaten the US with?