ORIGINAL LINK : https://blog.naver.com/PostView.naver?blogId=rgm84d&logNo=223323704226
This is a scene of the launch of a hypersonic boost glide missile released by the North Korean Central News Agency.
North Korea The Korean Central News News Agency reported on the 15th, “ On the afternoon of January 14, the Missile General Bureau conducted a test launch of a medium-range solid-fuel ballistic missile equipped with a hypersonic maneuvering combat unit .”
The agency continued, “The test launch was conducted with the aim of confirming the reliability of the newly developed multi-stage high-thrust solid fuel engines and the flight characteristics of the hypersonic maneuvering combat unit of the medium-range class,” and “The test launch was successfully conducted.”
What is the translation in Korean?
If we translate North Korea’s claim, unlike liquid rockets it has a fast response time using solid rockets to achieve low-altitude hypersonic flight capable boost glide weapon test was successful.
On September 28, 2021, North Korea used a liquid rocket to launch the Mars-8 type ballistic missile, which uses a boost glide method using part of the Mars 12 type’s first stage..
At that time, the boost glide maneuvering warhead separated from the boost rocket maintained a speed of about Mach 2.5~3 and a height of about 30km while flying a distance of less than 200km.
Basically considering that hypersonic is Mach 5 or more, the speed of Mach 2.5~3 and a maneuver distance of less than 200km shown by North Korea cannot be called a hypersonic weapon.
This is the appearance of the Mars-8 type boost-glide weapon released by North Korea. What was launched this time seems to be an improved version of this.
◆ Did they succeed in improving it?
The model North Korea launched this time was not a liquid rocket that requires a long time to prepare for launch, but a solid rocket.
North Korea’s boost glide weapon, which separated from the solid rocket, flew about 1,000km according to the observation of the US and South Korean authorities, and according to Japan’s observation, it flew 500km, and the cruise altitude of the missile was about 50km on average, they said.
The reason for the difference in the reports of the US and South Korean authorities and Japan is that South Korea was able to continuously track North Korea’s missile launch using a ballistic missile early warning radar at the same latitude.
In contrast, Japan used a ballistic missile early warning radar located far from the flight point on the Japanese mainland, and could not properly track it due to the horizon limit because the cruise altitude of the North Korean missile was low.
In other words, the announcement of the US and South Korean authorities must be more accurate, and unlike the past, North Korea’s boost glide weapon has flown as much as 1,000km.
This is South Korea’s ballistic missile early warning radar. It has a detection range of up to 800km and currently four are deployed.
An interesting point is that both the US and South Korean authorities and Japan must have clearly understood the cruising speed, but they did not disclose it.
The speed will be disclosed in the future, but considering that the disclosure is delayed compared to the past, it seems likely that North Korea has succeeded in the test of the hypersonic boost glide weapon. (This is still an estimate.)
The reason why the Korean Ministry of National Defense is cautious about the announcement is if North Korea really succeeded in developing a hypersonic boost glide weapon, it would be difficult to intercept it properly with Korea’s KAMD system. In other words, the political impact is large, so it seems that they are carefully analyzing it.
What is a boost glide weapon?
So, what is a boost-glide weapon?
A boost glide weapon also uses a solid rocket booster like a conventional ballistic missile in the ascent stage to gain altitude and speed. A conventional ballistic missile passes through the ballistic vertex and falls as it is, drawing a parabola.
