Decoding North Korea's mysterious Hwasong-12 missile.

To date, the only information outside the country is that the missile North Korea test-fired on May 14th was the Hwasong-12. The technical aspects of this weapon remain a mystery.

Page 38 of North, specializing in North Korean affairs, raises the question: Could the Hwasong-12's engine be used to fuel the development of a new ballistic missile?

Photo: Rodong Sinmun

According to 38 North, a notable feature of the Hwasong-12 is its engine: a single nozzle with four valves. This is neither the Soviet R-27 engine used in the Musudan missile, nor the dual R-27 system they developed for the KN-08 missile tested in 2016.

Images released by North Korea show that the Hwasong-12's engine looks very similar to a new type of engine that North Korea tested in March. It could be a space launch vehicle engine. However, it's possible that a variant of it has been used for the new missile.

According to 38 North's assessment, the engine used for the Hwasong-12 is not yet powerful enough for an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). But North Korea will not take long to develop one for this purpose.

The combination of propulsion is also quite mysterious, as the North Koreans have manipulated the colors in some of the photos for aesthetic purposes. But it is definitely a liquid-fuel propulsion system.

Photo: Rodong Sinmun

Another question arises: is this a single-stage or two-stage missile? There is no indication of a stage separation coupling on the Hwasong-12, leading many experts to believe it is a single-stage missile.

However, it's difficult to say for sure because more advanced designs often have hidden internal joints.

If the Hwasong-12 is a single-stage missile, its capabilities, with a range of 4,500 km, would be "unprecedented" for its kind. Historically, the only single-stage missile comparable to the Hwasong-12 was the Soviet R-14, but that weighed 80 tons, while the Hwasong-12 weighs only about 20 tons.

One more question: Does the Hwasong-12 test demonstrate North Korea's progress in its ICBM development ambitions?

Developing a new engine, a new structural design, and possibly a new stage separator is no simple task. It is highly likely that North Korea will use these technologies in its ICBM development program with the goal of creating a missile capable of reaching the United States.

But even if the success of the Hwasong-12 could accelerate North Korea's ambitions, it is still unlikely that the country will be able to deploy an operational ICBM before 2020.

According to Vietnamnet