N. Korea Has New, Accurate Missile-U.S. Officials

[Seraphim]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=574&e=1&u=/nm/20030910/wl_nm/korea_usa_missle_dc_2

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20030910/i/1063162642.4160749612.jpg


North Korean soldiers, carrying a banner of the late leader Kim Il-sung, parade to mark the country's 55th birthday, in Pyongyang September 9, 2003. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il took the salute on Tuesday at a parade to celebrate the country's birthday but diplomats said the communist state did not display any new missiles or other military hardware. Picture taken September 9. JAPAN OUT. NO ARCHIVE, NO SALES *******/Korea News Service




WASHINGTON (*******) - North Korea (news - web sites) has used Russian technology to develop a new, intermediate-range missile that may be the most capable and accurate system in Pyongyang's arsenal, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

There also are "indications" the North Koreans have begun limited production of the longer-range Taepo Dong 2 missile that can reach the continental United States and may be ready for export, a senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told *******.


Experts said if Pyongyang has built a new missile based on a new design instead of old Scud technology, this would be a significant development. But some were skeptical. One U.S. official said he believed the Bush administration was still divided on its assessments of the Pyongyang's missile program.


In addition to working to improve the accuracy and range of all its missile systems, the North Koreans have been "developing and perfecting a completely new and different missile system, an intermediate range missile system based on an improved different technology," one official said.


American officials said the missile is based on the Russian SSN6, a submarine-launched ballistic missile deployed in 1969 with a range up to 3,400 miles. Other North Korean missiles have been based on the Russian-made Scud missile, which has a shorter-range and is less accurate.

[hendrix33]

Further Details:


http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/dprk/missile/range.gif
HiRes http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/dprk/images/pg7.gif

Estimated Missile Ranges.

Souce: http://www.fas.org

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/dprk/images/nk_taepodong_01_f.gif


The Taep'o-dong-2 (TD-2) is said to be a two or three stage missile with a range estimated at approximately 3,650-3,750 km with a 700-1,000 kg payload. Other sources credit the TD-2/NKSL-X-2** with a range in excess of 4,000-4,300 km. North Korea has given various names to the Taep'o-dong missile, such as No-dong-3, Hwasong (Mars)-2 and Moksong (Jupiter)-2.

According to Kim Kil Son, who prior to defection to south Korea in August 1997 worked in a publications department of north Korea’s Number 2 Research Center, development of this missile started in 1987 after Kim Jong Il gave on the spot guidance to the Number 2 Research Center saying that "If we can develop this we have nothing to fear. Even the American Bastards won’t be able to bother us. Whether we live or die, we must quickly develop the HwaSong 6."

As of late 1999, no flight test of this missile had been reported although these missiles have been observed on display in North Korea. (As with many other such activities in North Korea, apparently much of the work on North Korea missiles is done underground.) This is also reportedly the case in Iran.

A liquid fuel engine test was detected at the Taep'o-dong rocket test stand in February 1994. Whether this engine was for the No-dong or Taep'o-dong-1 or the Taep'o-dong-2 is unclear. This seems premature to have been a test firing for the Taep'o-dong-2 first stage booster and it is therefore assumed to be associated with the Taep'o-dong-1 booster test. That would essentially have been a No-dong test firing which is the first stage of the TD-1. All of these North Korean engines are using highly corrosive and highly toxic so called storable propellants. These engines can only undergo one test firing before they have to be torn down cleaned out and reassembled for further firings, installation on launch vehicles for a flight test, or missile deployment. This is what is done with Titan-4 core stages liquid fuel engines.

Test firings of the TD-2 first stage engines have taken place in the last two or three years. They may have first been conducted in Iran but that is uncertain. Published reports that multi-stage missiles have been seen stacked and unstacked in Iran fail to clarify whether the missile in question was the TD-1 or the much larger TD-2.

North Korea conducted a possible TD-2 engine test in late June 2001 [the fact of the test reliably reported, although it is less certain whether the test involved a TD-1 or TD-2]. The ground test was the first major development in the long-range-missile program since the first flight test of the Taepodong-1 in August 1998. The engine test reportedly involved placing the rocket booster on its side and firing the engine. A large burn area -- the effects of the engine test -- was photographed by US military reconnaissance aircraft. North Korea tested a new engine for the long-range missile system several times during 2001 at the missile testing site in Musudan-ri, Hwadae-gun, North Hamgyong Province. North Korea has conducted engine tests every year since the August 1998 Taepodong-1 test flight. The North has reportedly increased the frequency of these engine tests from one or two times in 1998-2000 to three or four times during 2001.




http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/dprk/images/nk_nksl01_f.gif


Source: http://www.globalsecurity.org

[Vance]

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/dprk/images/nk_taepodong_01_f.gif

Haha, Korea has no dongs. rofl

[hendrix33]

No Dong's come under serveral names:

Video:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/pakistan/images/ghouri.avi

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/pakistan/images/ghauri2-3.jpg

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/pakistan/images/ghauri2-2.jpg

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/pakistan/images/ghauri1-1.jpg

Source: http://www.globalsecurity.org


Pakistan has stated that the range and payload capacity of the missile will be upgraded. Pakistan claimed that the missile had "no relevance" to China's M-11 missile, and analysis suggests that it appears to be a derivative of the North Korean Nodong design. The December 2001 CIA report "Foreign Missile Developments and the Ballistic Missile Threat Through 2015" seemed to suggest that the Ghauri was based on No Dong MRBMs that Pakistan has acquired from North Korea.

This missile was first named Hataf-V, later the name was changed to Ghauri, which was approved by the prime minister. The missile was named after the 12th century Afghan king Shahbuddin Ghauri who captured western parts of India between 1176 and 1182, and captured northern India by defeating Prithvi Raj Chauhan in 1192. The Ghauri name is thus highly symbolic, as "Prithvi" is the name of the Indian short-range ballistic missiles, and Pakistan's "Ghauri" has a much longer range than the Indian missile.

[budanski]

North Korea 55th birthday parade pics

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20030909/i/1063107792.3959504941.jpg
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20030909/i/1063107616.4093763624.jpg
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20030909/i/1063104897.3691061293.jpg
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20030909/mdf356769.jpg
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20030909/i/1063104703.3623895072.jpg


Darn! I feel bad 'cause I forgot to send them a card.

[Spine]

That's a whole heap of paradin'.

On the Daily Show they had a funny bit playing with the name of the 'dong' series of rockets.

[Seraphim]

Whoa that reminds me of the Nuremburg rally.

http://www.roberts.ezpublishing.com/rarmory/nur25.jpg

http://www.roberts.ezpublishing.com/rarmory/nur18.jpg

http://www.roberts.ezpublishing.com/rarmory/nur22.jpg

[hendrix33]

Whoa that reminds me of the Nuremburg rally.



Yeah. But THEY didn't have nukes. :|

[StarvingStudent47]

I remember hearing rumors of a North Korean missile that could reach the west coast of the United States, but I don't remember any details. Now that I've moved to Oregon, I figure I should get more info on that. Can anyone help me out here?

That's one crazy parade. Why can't North Koreans just play video games in their spare time like South Koreans?

[hendrix33]

Check this page out.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/dprk/td-2.htm

I saw something about orbital launching vehicle mounted as a third stage on the Taipeo-Dong II. I guess this means getting anywhere they want, but I'm not sure on that.

[budanski]

I'd bet good money we can hit North Korean targets better than North Korea can hit American targets...

The North Koreans may have a nuclear missile but they have a definite marketing problem with the "No-Dong" missile. It just ain't manly enough.

[Gordon]

North Korea's missile ranges, from www.economist.com :

http://www.economist.com/images/20030503/CSF953.gif

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1748566

I'm not sure if you will all be able to access the above article so if anyone wants to read the whole thing let me know and i'll post it.

[hendrix33]

The North Koreans may have a nuclear missile but they have a definite marketing problem with the "No-Dong" missile. It just ain't manly enough.

My, friend the North Koreans (NK) unfortunally do NOT have problem in proliferating ballistic missiles and technology.

Example #1

http://www.news.navy.mil/management/photodb/webphoto/web_021209-O-0000X-004.jpg


The North Korean cargo vessel, So San, being stopped and boarded during maritime interception operations (MIO), conducted by two Spanish Navy ships, the Santa Maria-class Frigate Navarra (F-85) accompanied by the replenishment ship Patino (A-14). When signaled to stop, So San attempted to evade capture, forcing Navarra to fire warning shots across its bow. Spanish Special Forces troops then conducted a hostile boarding by helicopter and small boat. The boarding team later found 15 disassembled Scud missiles concealed by bags of cement, bound for Yemen. U.S. military experts deployed in the area were called in to further examine the cargo. U.S. Intelligence sources had been tracking the vessel since it departed a North Korean port in mid-November. Photo released by Spanish Defense Ministry.

http://www.news.navy.mil/management/photodb/webphoto/web_021209-O-0000X-009.jpg


Gulf of Aden (Dec. 9, 2002) -- Containers found to have scud missile parts in the cargo hold aboard the North Korean vessel, So San, discovered after being boarded by Spanish Special Forces. So San attempted to evade capture, forcing the Spanish Santa Maria-class Frigate Navarra (F-85) to fire warning shots across its bow. Special Forces troops then conducted a hostile boarding by helicopter and small boat. The boarding team later found 15 disassembled Scud missiles concealed by bags of cement, bound for Yemen. U.S. military experts deployed in the area were called in to further examine the cargo. U.S. Intelligence sources had been tracking the vessel since it departed a North Korean port in mid-November. Photo released by Spanish Defense Ministry.


http://www.news.navy.mil/management/photodb/webphoto/web_021209-O-0000X-013.jpg


Gulf of Aden (Dec. 9, 2002) -- Scud missile parts and equipment found in the cargo hold aboard the North Korean vessel, So San, discovered after being boarded by Spanish Special Forces. So San attempted to evade capture, forcing the Spanish Santa Maria-class Frigate Navarra (F-85) to fire warning shots across its bow. Special Forces troops then conducted a hostile boarding by helicopter and small boat. The boarding team later found 15 disassembled Scud missiles concealed by bags of cement, bound for Yemen. U.S. military experts deployed in the area were called in to further examine the cargo. U.S. Intelligence sources had been tracking the vessel since it departed a North Korean port in mid-November. Photo released by Spanish Defense Ministry.

Source: The US Navy http://www.news.navy.mil/search/photolist.asp
(type SCUD in the search box to find more photos of that action)


Example #2


In parallel to these efforts to develop indigenous TBMs, Iran increased its efforts to obtain longer-range TBMs from abroad. Following the first shipment of 100 North Korean Scud B SRBMs in 1988, a further 200-300 missiles were delivered, and by the early 1990s it was estimated that Iran had accumulated up to 350 Scud Bs, together with some 15 mobile launchers.
The first significant qualitative increase in Iranian missile capability was its acquisition of North Korean Scud Cs, a 500 km variant of the Scud B produced with assistance from China. In November 1990, a North Korean delegation travelled to Tehran for a meeting with the Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and deliveries of North Korean Scud Cs to Iran began the following year. Iran first tested the system in May 1991 and later the same year Iran began acting as a trans-shipment point for the Scud C's exported to Syria. By 1994, it was reported that Iran had taken delivery of between 100 and 170 Scud Cs, together with associated tooling and assembly equipment which has been installed at a plant near Hama. However, although some recent reports suggest that this plant can produce entire Scud Cs, it seems more likely that it assembles knock-down kits, with only a limited number of components being manufactured indigenously.
In regional terms, Iran's possession of the Scud C is significant. Its 550 km range allows Iran to target most of Iraq, Eastern Syria and parts of Eastern Turkey, as well as the Gulf Emirates and many key targets in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, since the missile is normally deployed by North Korea with a chemical warhead, it may be that a transfer of this technology has also taken place, saving Iran years of development time to deploy a chemical warhead of its own.
Iran has gained further capabilities by acquiring Chinese M-11 SRBMs with a range of 300 km. The M-11s' solid-fuel engines give Iran considerably greater operational flexibility than its older liquid-fuelled Scud Bs and Scud Cs. These Chinese exports may also have included the transfer of some associated production and assembly technologies.

The Nodong 1

More significantly, it is believed that Iran has provided financial assistance for North Korea's Nodong programme, now nearing series production, and has negotiated agreements to receive some 150 of these 1,000 km range SRBMs, together with production facilities, once development is completed. The Nodong-1, with a range of 1,000 km would give Iran the capability to target almost the entire Middle East, including parts of Israel. However, reports that Japan had applied strong pressure on Tehran to cancel these purchases - including a threat to withhold funding for a major hydroelectric project - place a question mark over Iran's acquisition plans.
Such doubts appeared to be confirmed by US Army General Binford Peay, Commander of the US Central Command, who reported in April 1996 that an Iranian deal to purchase a number of Nodong-1s had fallen through in March 1996 due to financial difficulties. However General Peay also reported that Iran was building a number of deep tunnels along its Gulf Coastline which he believed were intended as storage or launch sites for the Nodong I once Iran and North Korea reach agreement on its purchase. And given these reports, the legacy of close co-operation between the two states and the investment Iran has made in North Korea's programmes, it appears likely that both the Nodong1 and longer range North Korean TBMs, the 1,500 km Nodong 2, and the 2,000 km Taepo Dong 1, will find their way into the Iranian arsenal at some time in the future.

Iranian Capabilities: an Assessment

The pattern of Iran's missile acquisition since the end of the Iran-Iraq War in 1988 suggests that Iran's ultimate goal is the establishment of an indigenous TBM manufacturing capability. Whilst the precise nature of Iran's current production capabilities is hard to quantify, there is no doubt that it has the ability to assemble complete TBMs from imported kits, and can also build certain major structural and mechanical components. These efforts are concentrated at the Chinese-built plant near Semnan, which began building the Oghab artillery rocket in 1987 and later began assembly of the Mushak 120, and at larger North Korean-built plants at Isfahan and Sirjan which can produce liquid fuels and certain structural components. Another Chinese-built facility near Bandar Abbas produces the Silkworm ASCM, and is at the centre of efforts to extend the Silkworm's range to 400 km. Iran's missile test facilities are situated in the North East of the country near Shahroud. Some 100 other facilities produce missile components of different kinds.
Reports from German Customs Intelligence in late 1994 that Iran would be producing Scud Bs using "a significant proportion" of indigenously-manufactured parts by 1995, and that it would attain self-sufficiency "in the coming years" confirm that Iran's relatively advanced defence infrastructure has given it the ability to assemble TBMs from imported components. However, Iran's ability to produce TBMs may be limited by a lack of key human resources - designers, technicians, technical writers etc - suggesting that the capability to produce complete missile bodies, engines and key components, particularly guidance systems, is still some way off. Iran also lacks the human infrastructure to design and produce wholly indigenous TBMs without substantial input from foreign personnel. However, given the relative ease with which Iran and other states have obtained sophisticated components, machine tools and foreign assistance in the past, this lack of full indigenous production facilities and infrastructure may not hamper for long Iran's efforts to acquire a more potent offensive ballistic missile capability.

Source: Lancaster's University Internationall and Security Studies Center
http://www.cdiss.org/iran_b.htm (the posted text is an extract)

[Adri]

That's one crazy parade. Why can't North Koreans just play video games in their spare time like South Koreans?

why cant we all play video games ? that would be easy ! you could start trying to tell mr. bush that usa don`t need an army just video games....

by the way; why did mr.bush say "we...eh....we realy think saddam have wmd....realy !"

insted of the trouth:

"saddam hussein is evil (he is darth vader !!!!) ! and he use torture (just as us) on his prisons (and his people), and.....my....our army need something to do..."

[Trigger]

Adri wrote:

by the way; why did mr.bush say "we...eh....we realy think saddam have wmd....realy !"

insted of the trouth:

"saddam hussein is evil (he is darth vader !!!!) ! and he use torture (just as us) on his prisons (and his people), and.....my....our army need something to do..."
Adri, that post was just about the most retarded thing I've seen all day.

[hendrix33]

Adri wrote:

by the way; why did mr.bush say "we...eh....we realy think saddam have wmd....realy !"

insted of the trouth:

"saddam hussein is evil (he is darth vader !!!!) ! and he use torture (just as us) on his prisons (and his people), and.....my....our army need something to do..."
Adri, that post was just about the most retarded thing I've seen all day.

Saddam did have WMD. Hopefully they will show up, or their remains.