Monday, February 13, 2017

North Korea fires ballistic missile

(Pyongyang) North Korea claims it had successfully test-fired a new type of medium- to long-range ballistic missile this Sunday (12/02/17) , claiming further advancement in a weapons programme it is pursuing in violation of United Nations resolutions.

North Korea fired the ballistic missile into the sea early on Sunday, the first test of U.S. President Donald Trump's vow to get tough on an isolated North Korean regime that tested nuclear devices and ballistic missiles last year at an unprecedented rate. The North's state-run KCNA news agency said leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test of the Pukguksong-2, a supposed new type of strategic weapon capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

That said the Pukguksong-2 is believed to be the very same Pukguksong-1 aka Musudan missile the North Koreans launched from the sea , but cold launched from a land based canister as reported by Joseph Dempsey
The above was the early reports, a little while later, more pictures came out which shows that the  Pukguksong-2 is indeed the very same missile as the Pukguksong-1:


The Musudan is a liquid-fuelled, nuclear-capable missile fired from a mobile launch vehicle, making it difficult to find and destroy. It is believed to be descended from the Cold War-era R-27 "Zyb" submarine-launched missile to which it bears an remarkable resemblance.


Funny enough Iran attempted a missile launch the otherday as well