Solid-fuel ballistic missiles carrying hypersonic warheads are considered North Korea's trump card in threatening the US strategic base in Guam.
North Korea's state news agency KCNA announced on January 14 that the country had successfully test-fired a solid-fuel long-range ballistic missile carrying a hypersonic glide warhead. The test was aimed at determining "the maneuverability characteristics of the warhead and the reliability of the newly developed high-thrust multi-stage solid-fuel engine."
The South Korean military also previously assessed that North Korea had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (IRBM), a weapon with a range of 3,000-5,500 km and capable of threatening key US bases on Guam Island, located about 3,500 km from the Korean Peninsula.
This is not the first time North Korea has tested a hypersonic glide vehicle. In 2021-2022, the country tested the Hwasong-8, a striking orange hypersonic ballistic missile, three times.
Close-up of the launcher vehicle and hypersonic glide warhead of the Hwasong-8 missile. Photo: KRT .
Experts say the Hwasong-8's engine structure is similar to the Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that North Korea tested in 2017, in which the missile is equipped with a main engine and four small engines to adjust its flight path. Therefore, the Hwasong-8 is likely to also use liquid fuel, a type of fuel that is unreliable and takes a long time to load before launch.
The January 14 test appears to be the first time Pyongyang has combined a hypersonic glide vehicle with a solid-fuel missile, maximizing the advantages of each technology and increasing its ability to threaten US strategic targets.
Solid-fuel engines are more difficult to develop and manufacture than liquid-fuel engines, but can significantly shorten pre-launch preparation time and do not require as much auxiliary infrastructure.
This makes solid-fuel missiles difficult to detect, easy to deploy from many different locations and surprise the enemy. Instead of having to wait for a long time to refuel before firing the missile, the solid-fuel missile carrier can move from hiding to the required location, launch the missile and quickly retreat, leaving the enemy unable to detect and react.
An IRBM carrying a hypersonic glide vehicle warhead was test-fired by North Korea on January 14. Photo: KCNA
This will help maximize the superiority of the hypersonic glide warhead. North Korea is developing two variants of hypersonic warheads with different shapes, one of which has many similarities with the Russian Avangard series and the Chinese DF-17.
Hypersonic missiles typically reach speeds of around 6,000-12,000 km/h, which is much lower than many types of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The most prominent feature of hypersonic weapons is their maneuverability and low flight path in the atmosphere, making them much more difficult to track and intercept than traditional ballistic missiles, posing a major challenge to all modern air defense networks.
The combination of a hypersonic glide vehicle with a long-range ballistic missile would form the Low Orbital Strike Weapon System (FOBS), a platform developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
FOBS have the same power as ballistic missiles, but can attack from unexpected directions. It has no range restrictions, while the timing of the warhead's descent is also very unpredictable, in contrast to the steady trajectory of a ballistic missile.
"With the traditional FOBS system, the opponent can somewhat predict the warhead's flight path if it detects the launch vehicle in space. But the design using a hypersonic glide warhead makes it completely impossible for the opponent to predict its flight path," said US military expert Tyler Rogoway.
Shooting down this warhead is also not easy, especially when US interception systems only focus on detecting and destroying traditional ballistic missiles, which have fixed flight paths in each phase.
"FOBS allows the hypersonic glide vehicle to be deployed beyond the detection and interception range of air defense systems outside the atmosphere, after which the warhead will glide through the atmosphere and dive towards the target. The ground radar network is almost useless because of the limited line of sight angle and the extremely high speed of the projectile," Rogoway admitted.
Location of Guam and US bases on the island. Graphic: NPR
Some experts warn that the latest test shows that North Korea's hypersonic weapons and FOBS could become a major challenge to US forces in the near future.
"North Korea appears to be working to develop hypersonic missiles and solid-fuel IRBMs, aiming to have weapons systems capable of evading US defenses and destroying key targets in Guam," said Chang Young-keun, a professor at Korea Aerospace University.
Vu Anh (According to Reuters, Drive )
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