What type of missiles does North Korea have?
North Korea fired a missile on Japan, which traveled approximately 4,500 km (2,800 miles) before falling into the Pacific Ocean.
It regularly conducts missile tests as part of its weapons program, but this is the first launch in Japan since 2017.
The unveiling of the new missiles appeared to be a message to the Biden administration about the North’s growing military capabilities, experts said. In March 2021, it launched what it called a “new type tactically guided projectile” capable of carrying a 2.5 tons payload – theoretically capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
A 100-kiloton bomb is six times more powerful than the one the United States dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. North Korea claimed it was its first thermonuclear device – the most powerful of all types of nuclear weapons.
However, according to Mr. Byrne, North Korea may now aim to test a smaller type of nuclear warhead with a similar yield. “It appears they are now testing a new capability: a miniaturized warhead that can be mounted on a range of missiles, including short-range ones,” he says.
North Korea has conducted more than 30 missile tests this year, some with enough range to reach the United States.
These include ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and hypersonic missiles.
What type of missiles does North Korea have?
Hypersonic missiles fly at speeds several times that of sound and at low altitudes to evade radar detection. The most recent missile tested on Japan is believed to be a medium-range Hwasong-12, with a range of 4,500 km, far enough to hit the American island of Guam from North Korea.
“North Korea has tested increasingly long-range missiles,” said Joseph Byrne, a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute. The Hwasong-15 missile is said to have a range of 13,000 km, targeting the entire continental United States.
