N. Korea appears to have fired modified KN-23 Iskander-class missile

북이 발사한 신형전술유도탄 무기 분석... KN-23 개량형으로 추정

With actual photos of the weapons unveiled by the North's state media, some experts conclude the regime appears to have fired an upgraded version of its KN-23 Iskander-class ballistic missile... first showcased in January's military parade.
Kim Jiyeon provides a deeper analysis.
The missiles that North Korea test-fired towards the East Sea on Thursday appear to be upgraded, modified versions of its KN-23 Iskander-class ballistic missile.
Such Iskander-class ballistic missiles are harder to intercept than other missiles due to their so-called pull-up maneuver - the ability to shoot upwards dramatically during the final stages of descent... making it harder to predict their flight trajectory.
The variant was first showcased during North Korea's military parade in January this year and had never been tested prior to this launch.
Despite the North's state media claiming that the new missile was equipped with a two-point-five ton warhead... experts suspect the warhead was actually smaller... as the exterior of the warhead shows no other change from the KN-23 than being slightly longer.
Experts believe Pyeongyang may be making such claim as a missile is widely believed to be able to carry a payload of at least one ton to carry nuclear warheads.
At January's parade, the warhead of the new Iskander... showed a sharper tip than the pre-existing KN-23 Iskander-class ballistic missile.
Another change in feature that's noteworthy: the transporter erector launcher carrying the new Iskander appears longer... with five-axles and ten wheels while the previous version had four with eight wheels.
It's also believed to operate on solid fuel ... just like the KN-23 model... which means it can be fired in less than 15 minutes.
What experts find odd is the flight range discrepancy estimated by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff - at 450 km - and the North's announcement of 600km.
The main consensus is that the radar technology used by South Korea is more accurate and
"North Korea plants a measuring device in the missile and measures the electronic wavelength emitted from the device. There could have been ten or so kilometers of measurement error... since the South Korean military's radar can't measure the initial stages of the launch... it has to reach a certain altitude... and it can't capture the final destination due to the Earth's curved surface. But a 150-kilometer difference is huge."

If the new Iskander had, indeed, flown 600 kilometers, it should have been picked up by South Korea's or Japan's radar since the missile would have landed near Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone.
Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.

#KN23 #ISKANDER #MISSILE

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2021-03-26, 22:00 (KST)