North Korea boasts it has the “world’s most powerful” missile, but experts say it is too big for use in a war | Real Time Headlines

North Korea boasted on Friday new intercontinental ballistic missile Just test-fired, it is “the most powerful in the world”, a claim dismissed as pure propaganda after experts assessed it was too big to be effective in a war situation.

The intercontinental ballistic missile launched Thursday flew higher and lasted longer than any other weapon North Korea has tested. But foreign experts said the test failed to show that North Korea had overcome some of the last remaining technical hurdles and had a functional intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the U.S. mainland.

North Korea’s Central News Agency identified the missile as the “Hwasong-19” missile and called it “the most powerful strategic missile in the world” and a “perfect weapon system.” State media said leader Kim Jong Un watched the launch and described it as North Korea’s determination to deal with external threats to North Korea’s security.

The color and shape of the exhaust flames seen in North Korean state media launch photos indicate the missile was used Preloaded with solid fuel, This makes the weapon more flexible and harder to detect than liquid propellants that typically must be pre-fueled.

But experts say the photos show the intercontinental ballistic missile and its launch vehicle are oversized, raising serious questions about its wartime mobility and survivability.

“What happens when missiles get bigger? Vehicles also get bigger. As transport-mounted launchers get bigger, their maneuverability decreases,” said Lee Sang-min, an expert at South Korea’s Institute for Defense Analyses.

Chang Young-keun, a missile expert at the Korea National Research Institute in Seoul, said the Hwasong-19 is estimated to be at least 28 meters (92 feet) long, while advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles from the United States and Russia are less than 20 meters (66 feet) long. He thinks the missile’s size may have helped South Korean intelligence agency Detect launch plans in advance.

“In the event of a conflict, such exposure would make the weapons targets for preemptive attacks by adversaries, so survivability will become a big issue,” Zhang said.

Lee Il-woo, a South Korean defense network expert, said North Korea may have developed larger missiles to carry larger and more destructive warheads or multiple warheads. If that were the case, Lee said North Korea would likely use liquid fuels because they produce higher thrust than solid fuels. He said some advanced liquid propellants can be stored for several weeks before a missile is launched.

Lee said North Korea may have placed a dummy empty warhead on the Hwasong-19 to make it fly higher.

In recent years, North Korea has reported steady progress in acquiring nuclear-tipped missiles. Many foreign experts believe that North Korea may have missiles that can carry out nuclear strikes across South Korea, but it does not yet have nuclear missiles that can strike the United States.

Experts say hurdles it has yet to overcome include ensuring its warheads can withstand the heat and pressure of re-entry, improving the missile’s guidance system and being able to use multiple warheads on a single missile to defeat missile defense systems.

“Acquiring re-entry technology is currently the most important goal of North Korea’s missile development, especially intercontinental ballistic missiles, but they are only constantly increasing their range. This may indicate that they still lack confidence in re-entry technology,” Ri Sang-min said.

Zhang said state media reports on the launch on Friday lacked details about the technical aspects of Hawsong-19 and focused on propaganda.

North Korea’s other claims about its weapons capabilities have also been widely viewed with skepticism.

In June, North Korea claimed it had conducted a nuclear test multiple warhead missiles It was the first known firing of such a weapon, but South Korea said the weapon exploded instead. In July, North Korea said it had tested a missile capable of carrying “Super large warhead” South Korea said the statement was an attempt to cover up the fact that the launch failed.

North Korea’s missile program remains a major regional security concern and the country has openly threatened to use nuclear missiles against its adversaries. In a joint statement on Thursday, the foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States and Japan condemned the intercontinental ballistic missile launches as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and said they were committed to stepping up efforts to prevent North Korea from providing illicit revenue for its missiles and missiles.

South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Friday it had imposed unilateral sanctions on 11 North Korean individuals and four organizations for allegedly procuring missile parts and earning foreign currency to fund Pyongyang’s weapons programmes. The sanctions are largely symbolic, given that financial transactions between the two Koreas have been suspended for years.

Also on Friday, South Korea and the United States conducted their first joint live-fire drill using drones as part of efforts to demonstrate their readiness. According to the South Korean Air Force, South Korean RQ-4B “Global Hawk” reconnaissance aircraft and American MQ-9 “Reaper” attack drones participated in this training. South Korea and the United States have been expanding regular military exercises in response to North Korea’s evolving nuclear threat.

Observers said Thursday’s launch was North Korea’s first intercontinental ballistic missile test in nearly a year and was primarily intended to attract U.S. attention days before the U.S. presidential election and respond to international condemnation. North Korea reportedly sends troops Russia supports its war on Ukraine.

North Korea’s reported troop dispatch highlights the expanding military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. South Korea. The United States and others worry that North Korea may seek high-tech, sensitive Russian technology to improve its nuclear and missile programs in exchange for joining Russian-Ukrainian War.