DPRK tests solid-fuel engine for new intermediate-range ballistic missiles “to enhance strategic offensive capabilities”

North Korea announced it tested a solid-fuel engine for a new intermediate-range ballistic missile on November 15. Korean Central News Agency – Yonhap News

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced that it developed and tested solid-fuel engines for new intermediate-range ballistic missiles on November 15. The DPRK continued to develop its missile system to improve its capabilities to conceal its movements, following the launch of its new solid-fuel-powered intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasong-18 earlier this year.

“The Missile Division developed high-thrust solid-fuel engines for the new intermediate-range ballistic missiles, which again has important strategic implications, and successfully conducted the first ground jet test of the first and second stage engines on November 11 and November 14 respectively,” announced the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), on November 15.

The North Korean state media explained, “The latest tests aimed to evaluate the technical characteristics of the high-thrust solid-fuel engines for the newly developed intermediate-range ballistic missiles,” and added, “They achieved very satisfactory results in the first ground tests of the first and second stage engines, and once again clearly confirmed the credibility and stability of the technological capabilities we have already secured to design and manufacture our own high-thrust solid-fuel engines.”

The news agency further announced, “Through the tests, we have obtained a firm guarantee to reliably push ahead with the development of the new intermediate-range ballistic missiles system.” The agency conveyed the words of the DPRK’s Missile Bureau, stating that the latest tests were an essential process to enhance the nation’s strategic offensive capability to prepare for a grave and unstable safety environment and for a regional military situation, where the enemy’s military collusion grew ever more vicious, and said that the Bureau put significant meaning into the development of the new intermediate-range ballistic missile.

The DPRK state media also mentioned that the development of a solid-fuel-powered intermediate-range ballistic missile was one of their major tasks in state defense this year. “The sixth plenary session of the eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the fourth enlarged session of the eighth Central Military Commission discussed plans to modernize the Republic’s defense capabilities based on expected changes in the region’s unstable situation and security environment, and presented the intercontinental ballistic missile, Hwasong-18, and a new updated intermediate-range ballistic missile as major tasks of the Missile Division in the 2023 plan for the development of defense science and weapons system.”

Previously, last December, North Korea announced that they successfully conducted the first ground jet test of a high-thrust solid-fuel engine, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un present on site. Then they disclosed Hwasong-18, an ICBM with a solid-fuel engine, in a military parade on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army in February and launched the missile for the first time in April, and a second time in July.

Now that the DPRK claimed to have succeeded in testing its solid-fuel engine, they are expected to launch a new intermediate-range ballistic missile powered by these engines. It takes less time to fuel an engine when using solid fuel, and solid propellants are also easy to load onto the transporter erector launcher (TEL). It is assessed as a threat, for it enables the North to evade South Korea and U.S. reconnaissance assets and to be more mobile.

The DPRK appears to be displaying its missile technology amidst rising military pressure recently, with the launch of the first joint aerial drills by South Korea, the U.S. and Japan. North Korea has not launched a missile for nearly two months since it fired a short-range ballistic missile on the day of a North Korea-Russia summit on September 13.

Reportedly, the North is also conducting an engine test for the third launch of a military reconnaissance satellite, which was scheduled for last month, but has been postponed. “The launch scheduled in October was postponed, and recently, they appear to be busy with last minute preparations, such as inspecting the engine and launch device,” said the National Intelligence Service, in a parliamentary inspection on November 1, adding, “We believe they are receiving technical advice from Russia, and expect their probability of success to increase.”