North Korea says it is making great strides in developing hypersonic weapons

Pyongyang surprised the world by testing a hypersonic rocket for the first time in September. Until then, only the Americans, Russians and Chinese were working on this ‘weapon of the future’. The penniless North Korea has also amazed neighboring countries and the US for the past two decades by successfully developing nuclear weapons, plus a long-range missile that could hit the United States.

Hypersonic weapons fly at their target at at least five times the speed of sound. Due to their great maneuverability in flight, they could pose a threat to the US missile defense system, which is supposed to protect the US mainland against a nuclear missile attack.

Glide craft

Hypersonic weapons are launched with a missile. After launch, a triangular glider, which can be equipped with a nuclear weapon, disengages from the missile and heads towards its target at tremendous speed.

The South Korean army was the first to announce the new North Korean test on Tuesday, after a test was also carried out last week. According to Seoul, the hypersonic weapon flew at a speed of ten times the speed of sound, about 12 thousand kilometers per hour, and ended up in the sea after a flight of 700 kilometers. South Korea acknowledged that the weapon was “quite advanced”.

According to North Korea, the glider, the Hwasong-8, flew about 1,000 kilometers before hitting a target in the sea between Japan and Russia.

Pyongyang, which paid full attention to the launch only on Wednesday, claims the weapon demonstrated “superior maneuverability” in flight and performed several maneuvers. The presence of Kim Jong-un, who watched the launch with his powerful sister from a bus, shows how important the North Korean leader considers the development of a hypersonic arsenal.

It was Kim Jong-un’s first appearance in a missile test in nearly two years. He also had extensive photographs taken during the launches of the long-range missile Hwasong-15, a missile of great concern to the US.

Priorities

According to North Korean state media, Kim called the development of a hypersonic weapon “the most important” of the five military priorities he set just a year ago to increase the strength of the North Korean army.

After the test, he celebrated the successful launch in Pyongyang with the military and the scientists behind the hypersonic weapons program and a group photo was taken.

Just like after the first test in September, the US, South Korea and Japan reacted with concern to the new launch. The US called it “a threat to neighboring countries and the international community.” Due to North Korea’s progress in developing a hypersonic weapon, cruise missiles and submarine missiles, the US and South Korea decided in December to update their secret war plan for a possible conflict with Pyongyang.

Dialogue

Washington on Wednesday again called on Pyongyang for dialogue to curb its expanded missile and nuclear program. Previous attempts to do so have failed under the Trump administration, despite two historic meetings between Trump and Kim Jong-un.

North Korea is demanding the lifting of international sanctions against the country. The US, in turn, wants firm commitments and, above all, concrete actions from Kim to dismantle North Korean weapons programs. Although Pyongyang claims to be successful in developing its hypersonic missile, the North Koreans, like the Americans, the Chinese and the Russians, are still a long way from having one operational.

“North Korea will need at least a few more successful longer-term tests, which will probably take at least a few years,” proliferation expert Vann van Diepen said in an analysis on 38North, a site that closely follows developments in North Korea – Van Diepen was Deputy Secretary of State for International Security in the Obama administration.

China

The US is also concerned about China’s remarkable progress. To the astonishment of the Pentagon, China succeeded in orbiting a hypersonic weapon in space last summer. The Chinese generals and scientists used a technology designed to attack another country from low Earth orbit.

The US now has to take into account that in war China can strike with a hypersonic weapon from a direction, via the South Pole, that they had not considered at all. Since the Chinese and Russian long-range missiles fly through the North Pole, the US missile defense shield is mainly aimed in this direction. The US itself is working on, among other things, a hypersonic cruise missile, but many American projects are plagued by technical problems.

Russia is also very active in the field of hypersonic weapons. It is constantly conducting tests with the Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile, which is launched from ships. Moscow even claims that another hypersonic weapon, the Avangard, has been operational and ready for use for three years. But this has not yet been confirmed by the Pentagon and independent sources.

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