Hwasong-14, North Korean missile beyond US intelligence predictions

The Hwasong-14 marks a "frightening milestone" as North Korea could strike the US state of Alaska years earlier than expected.

North Korea announced on July 4 that it had successfully tested the Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with a range of about 7,000 km, capable of reaching the US territory of Alaska. For the US military and intelligence community, the Hwasong-14 was an unexpected surprise, according toWashington Post.

US, South Korean and Japanese intelligence agencies have all concluded that this is a "frightening milestone" in North Korea's ballistic missile program that is years ahead of their previous estimates.

“It’s a true ICBM, not an ICBM-like missile. There’s no reason to think it has a maximum range of less than 6,500 kilometers,” said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (JMCNS).

David Wright,Director of the Global Security ProgramThe Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) in the US calculates that the Hwasong-14 can easily reach more than 6,500 km. "This range is not enough to reach major US cities or the large island clusters in Hawaii, but it is more than enough to cover the entire state of Alaska," Mr. Wright asserted.

Estimated range of Hwasong-14.

Analysts say there is no evidence that North Korea has the ability to miniaturize nuclear warheads for ballistic missiles, nor to build ICBMs that can reach the US mainland, but the success of the Hwasong-14 test proves that both are within Pyongyang's reach.

US intelligence has sought many ways to hinder North Korea's missile program, but the country has still achieved a series of breakthroughs, including successfully developing solid-fuel rocket engines and mobile launchers, as well as building submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).

Previously, it was thought that the Hwasong-14 missile used an engine cluster from the Musudan missile. However, Lewis said that the Hwasong-14 is more likely to use a completely new engine developed by North Korea, which was announced by the country on March 18.

“It’s not a copy of an old Soviet engine, nor is it a couple of old engines put together. I think they took a domestic engine design that was revealed three months ago and developed it for an ICBM,” Lewis said.

In a statement released after the Hwasong-14 test, Pyongyang claimed the missile was controlled to fly at the “highest angle” to avoid endangering neighboring countries. Military experts agree that the high trajectory serves two important purposes.

The Hwasong-14 missile reached an altitude of 2,802 km. Photo: KCNA

The high flight path will help shorten the range, eliminating the risk of the missile flying over Japanese territory. In addition, this flight path will cause parts of the Hwasong-14 missile to fall into deep waters in the Sea of ​​Japan, making it impossible for the US and Japan to salvage the missile for research, writer Joby Warrick commented./.

According to VNE