Tag: Musudan

I would not want to be part of the North Korean engineer team responsible for the production of the Musudan right now.  It is pretty embarrassing for the Kim regime that three of these Musudans have now failed right after launch:

North Korea fired off a second Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) after it failed in its first attempt on Thursday, but this latest launch also seems to have ended in failure, South Korea’s military said.

“North Korea fired off what appears to be another Musudan missile at about 7:26 p.m. in Wonsan, Kangwon Province, but this also ended in failure,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Earlier in the day, the North launched the same type of missile from the vicinity of Wonsan but it is known to have crashed a few seconds later.

The second attempt marks the third time that Pyongyang test fired its intermediate-range ballistic missile in less than two weeks. The first time it tested the missile was on April 15, but that launch ended in what experts called a catastrophic failure.  [Yonhap]

It appears that whatever issues the North Koreans had with their first Musudan launch they have not been able to identify because the missile has reportedly once again blown up shortly after launch.  What is significant about this is that the Musudan is the missile that the North Koreans have developed to specifically target the US territory of Guam and threaten US forces there with a nuclear strike.  As it is now Kim Jong-un might just be happy if his Musudan gets up in the air much less reaching Guam.  These failed tests also calls into question their other road mobile missile technology such as the KN-08 which they claim can target the US mainland with nuclear weapons:

North Korea fired off what appeared to be its Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) early Thursday, but the launch seems to have ended in failure, a military official said.

The missile appears to be the same model that North Korea tried to launch on April 15, according to the insider.

“The missile, presumed to be a Musudan, was fired around 6:40 a.m. from the vicinity of Wonsan, but it appears to have crashed a few seconds later,” the official said.

“It is highly likely that the launch failed. With that in mind, South Korea and the United States are conducting a detailed assessment,” he said.

Others said the missile seems to have plunged into the coastal area, and the failed launch was caught by a U.S. surveillance satellite.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

It looks like North Korea must have some confidence that they figured out what happened that caused the destruction of their last Musudan missile launch a couple of weeks ago because they are reportedly ready to try again:

North Korea appears to be readying to test-launch another intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) after the country botched its first attempt earlier in the month, government sources said Tuesday.

North Korea was initially detected to have loaded one or two IRBMs, known as Musudan, on the transporter erector launcher, near the country’s eastern port city of Wonsan, earlier in the month.

On April 15, one of the missiles was test-fired but reportedly blew up only a few seconds after lifting off.

“Signs have been detected that North Korea is trying to launch another Musudan missile after their failed launch that took place earlier on the birthday of (North Korean founder) Kim Il-sung,” one government source said.

“The remaining missile appears to be standing by for launch,” the source noted.

Another source added, “The military is picking up signs which indicate North Korea will likely launch the Musudan missile in the near future, and they are keeping close tabs on that.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

This makes the missile test failure even worse for the North Koreans if true:

North Korea’s failed launch of its Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile last week sparked a huge fireball that damaged the launcher and could have also injured or killed missile technicians on the ground, a news report said Wednesday.

The missile blew up about 300 feet above the ground, shortly after Friday’s launch, and U.S. strategic defense surveillance systems, both airborne and space-based, videotaped the explosion, the Washington Free Beacon reported, citing U.S. defense officials.

Two road-mobile Musudan launchers were set up for the test, but the second was not fired after the explosion, the report said. It also cited a diplomatic source as saying that the likely cause of the explosion was a faulty fuel system or turbo pump failure.

The Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile is an indigenous variant of the Russian SS-N-6 submarine-launched ballistic missile, known by Moscow as the R-27, which the North obtained covertly from Russia sometime in the 1990s, the report said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

The North Koreans recently test for the first time their Musudan missile which has the potential range of targeting the US island of Guam:

North Korea conducted its first test-launch of the medium-range ballistic missile Musudan early Friday from its east coast, but the launch ended in failure, officials said.

“North Korea seems to have tried a missile launch from the East Sea area in the early morning today, but it is presumed to have failed,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Sources said the launched missile was the Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), also known as the BM-25.

The missile lifted off at 5:30 a.m. but deviated from a “normal” trajectory, a JCS official told reporters.

After their joint assessment, South Korea and the United States concluded the launch as a failure, he added without elaborating further.

One military official said the IRBM disappeared from the South Korean side’s surveillance radar shortly after liftoff.

“It is highly likely that it may have exploded in the air. A further analysis is under way,” according to the official.

It was North Korea’s first test-launch of a Musudan missile, which the North is believed to have deployed against South Korea and other countries since 2007. The North has reportedly deployed some 30 Musudan missiles.  [Yonhap]

Reuters is reporting that it blew up on the launch pad which seems to contradict the ROK military saying that it fell off of their radar screens shortly after launch:

A U.S. government source told Reuters on Friday the missile never got off the launch pad, instead bursting into flames on the ground. It was not yet clear what caused the failure but further tests are expected, said the source, who asked not to be named.  [Reuters]

Whatever the failure was, this does not mean the North Koreans did not receive valuable data from this launch.  So hopefully people are not too quick to dismiss the North’s Musudan missile threat because of this one test.  It took them multiple launches to perfect their Taepodong-2 rocket technology which has had two straight successful launches putting objects into space.  If they continue to test the Musudan which I would think they will likely do, they are bound to figure out the errors that occurred in this test and perfect the technology.

I would think the term “patrols” used in the article would be referring to Japan’s Aegis ships that have ballistic missile defense capabilities.  It seems prudent for the Japanese to do this considering the possibility of the Musudan being fired over their country:

Japan says it is tightening patrols as a contingency against news that North Korea has deployed its Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles near Wonsan in Gangwon Province.

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters Thursday that the possibility of an additional provocation by North Korea can’t be denied.

He said the Japanese government will continue to keep close tabs and do its best in patrolling and surveillance.

Speaking to reporters, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga also said the government was highly attentive to North Korea’s nuclear and missile issue and has been gathering and analyzing intelligence.

He said the Self-Defense Forces were also maintaining defense readiness.

When asked if Pyongyang could launch a missile on Friday, the birthday of late North Korean founder Kim Il-sung, Suga said the Tokyo government is aware and coordinating with South Korea and the U.S. on response measures. [KBS World Radio]

You can read more at the link.

This Yonhap report claims that the North Koreans currently have two Musudans deployed near Wonsan in preparation for a possible test fire this week.  This would be a significant test since the Musudan has never been tested before and is believed to have enough range to target Guam.  What would be even more provocative is if they fire this missile over Japan:

North Korea has deployed one or two Musudan mid-range ballistic missiles to near the eastern port city of Wonsan for a possible launch to mark its founding father’s birthday this week, government sources said Thursday.

“North Korea has been detected to have deployed a Musudan missile(s) in the vicinity of Wonsan’s Hodo Peninsula,” one source told Yonhap News Agency.

“After deploying them some 20 days ago, the North has not withdrawn them,” the source said. “Given the fact, North Korea is likely to venture a launch on the occasion of Kim Il-sung’s birthday.”

On Friday, North Korea marks the 104th birthday of the late North Korean founder and leader Kim Il-sun.

The North has celebrated the “Day of the Sun” with elaborate military events in the past, with experts predicting that the event for this year will be marked with a ballistic missile launch.

Other military sources said the missile or the missiles were loaded onto a transporter-erector-launcher or TEL, a mobile missile launcher.

If the launch takes place, it will be North Korea’s first test-launch of the intermediate-range ballistic missile also known as BM-25.

With a range of up to 4,000 kilometers, the missile could fly over South Korea and Japan to reach as far as Guam, where United States military forces are stationed.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.