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© GRAPHIC NEWS

© GRAPHIC NEWS

© GRAPHIC NEWS

Graphic shows details and timeline of Pyongyang’s KN-11 ballistic missile powered by the newly developed high-power solid fuel engine.
GN34212EN

NORTH KOREA

Sub-launched ballistic missile

By Duncan Mil

April 26, 2016 - Analysts say North Korea’s latest test launch of a KN-11 missile shows Pyongyang has succeeded in developing “cold launch” technology, which means it can fire a ballistic missile vertically from a submarine.

North Korea has announced its ruling Workers’ Party congress will start on May 6, the first such conference in 36 years. Analysts warn that another banned nuclear test could precede the event.

North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and has pushed ahead with the development of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) technology in defiance of UN sanctions and international warnings.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un made headlines in March, claiming that his country had miniaturized nuclear warheads to mount on ballistic missiles. On April 23, he revealed pictures of the flight of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).

The successful launch of a KN-11 missile (NATO designation — called Polaris-1 in North Korea) from a Sinpo-class submarine followed a ground test of a large solid-fuel rocket motor on March 24.

A report by 38 North, a U.S. think tank at Johns Hopkins University, concluded from video of the exhaust plume that the latest KN-11 is likely using this new engine. The missile is expected to have a range of some 900km, carrying a 650kg warhead.

A fully-developed SLBM capability would take Pyongyang’s nuclear threat to a new level, allowing second-strike capability following the destruction of its land-based missiles. Only the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and India have submarines that carry SLBMs.
/ENDS

Sources
PUBLISHED: 26/04/2016; STORY: Graphic News
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