Seoul: North Korea this week tested what country media called hypersonic gliding missiles, sophisticated weapons that would be the progress of the latest nuclear armed technology and could take into account strategic balance.
Here are some questions and answers about North Korean technology and capabilities: hypersonics are defined as being able to travel at least five times the speed of sound – Mach 5, or more than 6,100 kilometers (3,800 miles) per hour.
As well as their sole speed, they can maneuver in the middle of the flight, making them much more difficult to track and intercept than traditional projectiles.
By cutting flight time, they also reduce the opportunity to respond.
Depending on the design, they can be able to carry nuclear and only conventional warheads, and have the potential to change strategic balance.
Russia is generally seen as a world leader in technology so far, developing a variety of new hypersonic weapons nicknamed President Vladimir Putin “invincible”.
In July, he managed to test Zircon, the hypersonic missile launched sent at seven times the speed of the sound.
Already has a Glide Avangard Hypersonic and Kinzhal (dagger) (dagger) vehicle which was launched in the air in the warehouse.
Russian officials said Avangard had reached 33,000 kilometers which were surprising per hour during the test.
Others want to catch up: Washington spent billions on several research programs and said this week had successfully tested the air launched air missiles built by Raytheon which reached “greater than Mach 5” speed.
China has also tested a hypersonic glide vehicle, according to the research service of the US Congress, which said that both Russian and Chinese hypersonic systems were designed for nuclear armed.
Details about North Korean Missiles – Hwasong-8 – Limited.
The official KCNA Pyongyang news agency said the test had “confirmed the navigation control and missile stability”, “guiding maneuvers and flight characteristics gliding from Hippersonic slid upstream”, and machines.
It does not say the speed of what has been achieved, but adds that it has a “ampouile” fuel system – a propellant tube that can eliminate the need for refueling the launch site.
Ordinary liquid-fired missiles cannot be transported with their propellant on board because the volatility makes it too dangerous to do it.
Instead, they must be triggered before the launch, the time consuming process that gives the enemy a lot of opportunities to find and destroy it.
Seoul hasn’t confirmed what type of missile is.
The US and South Korea are allies of security and have broad radar and supervision technology observing North.
The South Military usually detects and announces the launch of ballistic missiles within minutes after they occur, and do it on Tuesday.
But it does not follow up with the usual practice to determine the height and maximum flight distance.
Media reports quoted unnamed sources said it reached a height of about 60 kilometers and flew less than 200 kilometers, but did not determine the speed – important variables.
In a statement, the chief of staff with Seoul assessed it as “in the initial phase of development and would require a considerable time to be deployed”, adding the South Korean and US military military “able to detect and intercept”.
The South Korean Yonhap news agency suggested without quoting the source that it could reach Mach 3.
Some experts warn that hypersonic weapons might only have limited advantages, with American scientific articles last month saying that “by meaningless they are revolution”.
But if Pyongyang takes place from the first test this week to fully develop hypersonic technology, “it will lead to a significant military threat”, Cheong Seong-Chang said, director of the North Korean study center at the Sejong Institute.
“It makes sense to assume North Korea to develop this missile with the US thoughts,” he told AFP, added that it could be used as a bargaining chip in Washington.
Tuesday’s launch is a short distance, but Pyongyang will see to develop long-term capabilities in the field, he added.
“If it is developed remotely, there is no country on earth, including the US, which can intercept high-speed missiles like that.”