In a provocative move, North Korea fired a solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile, shortly after issuing threats to shoot down US military reconnaissance planes in the vicinity.
Amidst escalating concerns, North Korea conducts yet another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test, heightening worries about their growing arsenal’s ability to threaten major US cities.
Speaking on the margins of the NATO summit on Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida termed the launch “unacceptable” and a danger to stability in the region and the international community as a whole.
According to the government-owned Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Wednesday’s test was a test for the Hwasong-18, an explosive solid-fueled ICBM that Pyongyang last released in April.
The ICBM blasted on Wednesday flew around 1,000 kilometers and remained airborne for 74 a matter of minutes representing a minor improvement over the ballistic missiles launched earlier this year, according to Japan’s Defense Ministry.
Liquid-Fueled Missiles Versus Solid-Fueled Missiles
In 2022, when North Korea conducted its first long-range missile test in more than four years, the Hwasong-17, a liquid-fueled ICBM, was announced. Comparatively speaking, liquid-fuel technology is simpler to learn.
Meanwhile, the Hwasong-18 is a solid-fueled missile, stated by Pyongyang, making it significantly more advanced and allowing North Korea to deliver long-range nuclear strikes more rapidly.
Experts claim solid-fueled ICBMs are more stable and can be moved more readily to evade detection before a launch that may be launched in minutes, as opposed to liquid-fueled missiles, which may require hours before launch, giving opponents time to detect and disable the weapon.
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Is It Capable of Carrying a Nuclear Warhead?
It is unclear what types of payloads were used in these testing. Because the mass of the payload impacts the distance that a missile can travel, observers cannot be certain of the missile’s real range without this knowledge.
Another concern is if a North Korean nuclear bomb might survive reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
ICBMs are launched into orbit, where their payloads experience a fiery reentry procedure similar to that of a space rocket or space capsule before crashing down on their intended targets.
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Source: CNN