Iran Military Forum

U. S. and South Korean intelligence analysts believe the new facility is directly related to testing North Korea’s new 6,200 mi. range 130 ft. tall [Hwasong-14/Safir-X]“Satan” long range ICBM and a related North Korean/Iranian space launch booster with up to six engines clustered in the first stage.

Iran and possibly North Korea plan to use the large new space launch booster to send Iranian and North Korean astronauts into space.

According to Charles P. Vick at Global Security.org, some analysts believe North Korea hopes to turn the [Hwasong-14/Safir-X ]Satan into a semi-mobile ICBM for concealment in caves etc. That would be very hard to do with such a large liquid fueled rocket he notes .Evident in images of the launch tower are service levels built for the much wider and taller Satan ICBM and space launch vehicles. The entire upper servicing level, with a large circular opening in the floor, extends well above the top of the Unha-3/TD-2 on the pad.

South Korean intelligence analysts believe that North Korea has built about 20 of the Unha-3 vehicles, some of which are to be shipped to Iran where they would be launched as Iranian “Simorgh” ballistic missiles initially from the new Semnan launch site east of Tehran.

The Semnan launch facility itself duplicates the new Tongchang-ri launch site to be used for the first time this week. The jointly developed Semnan launch site is further evidence of direct North Korean, Iranian cooperation.

Intelligence and trade analysts agree that North Korea routinely shares rocket engine, rocket stage, design engineering and rocket guidance systems and software with Iran.

There has been so much sharing of ballistic missile parts and shipments by air, sometimes through third party airports, like Beijing’s, that the United Nations commissioned a major report on this illegal trade. In addition to being a transfer point, many of the missile parts acquired by North Korea then shipped to Iran were originally built in China.  The release of the finished UN report is being blocked, not surprisingly, by China.

There are other examples of this cooperation, including some that could have a direct bearing on Iranian / North Korean battle strategy. Examples include:

—The Unha-3/TD-2 upper stage: The third stage of the North Korean rocket was developed in Iran and uses liquid propellants.

–Coordinated missile launches: Both North Korea and Iran have demonstrated the ability to conduct coordinated ballistic missile launch operations if they ever choose to attack at the same time, according to U. S. Army Lt. Gen. Patrick J. O’Reilly, Director for the Missile Defense Agency.

– Coordinated sensor jamming: Both countries have also demonstrated the know-how to launch barrage attacks to overwhelm missile detection sensors confusing the sensors on the types of missiles being launched and their targets.

–Duplicate strike tactics: An additional concern is North Korea’s and Iran’s repeated demonstration of salvo launches, indicating large ballistic missile raid sizes that must be considered by the U. S. in developing it ballistic missile defense capabilities, Pentagon officials told the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee.

–Nuclear weapons development: North Korea and Iran are collaborating on nuclear test results and some analysts believe parts of a 2010 North Korean test or tests were done specifically for Iran. There are also reports that North Korea is preparing for a nuclear test in 2012.


Source
http://www.americaspace.org/?p=17120

Pictures recently seen on display at the Three Revolutions Museum’s space exhibit in Pyongyang may provide another clue to the mysterious rocket’s existence and characteristics. Figure 5 shows a photograph of an artist’s concept of a large satellite launch vehicle and gantry tower. The rocket and gantry portrayed in this picture differ from the Taepodong-1 launched in 1998 and the Unha rocket tested in 2009 and soon to be launched this week. But is this just another piece of propaganda or a representation of a future large DPRK space launch vehicle?
 
It’s impossible to say for sure. The space exhibit is full of false or misleading claims, including that the two satellites launched during previous tests achieved orbit, which they did not. Another photo shows a Chinese satellite that the North Koreans claim as one of their own. On the other hand, both launch videos and models of earlier rocket tests are accurate.

Assume for a moment, then, that the photo—propaganda though it may be—bares some resemblance to a future large North Korean rocket. The depiction of the confirmed gantry at Sohae doesn’t look quite the same, but let’s also assume that the dimensions are close. Given our detailed knowledge of the Sohae gantry from commercial satellite imagery, and now ground photos, the rocket in the picture can be roughly scaled to obtain its dimensions: about 38 to 40 meters long and 3.5 to 4 meters in diameter. The dimensions are similar to the large rocket reported by the press, the height of the Sohae gantry, and the diameter of the hole in the mobile test pad.
 
To carry this analysis one step further, a rocket of this size would be able to comfortably mount inside its first stage nine engines used by the Nodong medium-range missile—more than twice as many as the Unha-3 first stage.  The second stage looks to be 2.5 meters in diameter, similar to the Unha first stage, and could thus mount four engines.  The two stages alone would give the next-generation North Korean rocket nearly 450 tons of thrust, much more than the current generation of North Korean rockets and more than enough to power a highly capable ICBM or space-launch vehicle.
 
Figure 5. Artist’s concept of a possible larger new North Korean rocket.

Source
http://38north.org/2012/04/nhansenfp041112/

Hwasong-14 MIRV ICBM

2012.04.28 19:06:50

Hwasong-14 ICBM has a 14,000 km range, with Multiple warheads (MIRV) payload.

Hwasong-13 and Hwasong-14 ICBMs are deployed in deep tunnels of North Hamgyong Mountains at more than 2000 meters high, making them difficult to detect, as the Hwasong-13 is mounted on TELs.

The 10,700 km flight distance to Washington DC requires only 30 minutes for the 800 kiloton warheads. The explosion radius is 13 km.
 
Source
http://nodong.org/bbs/1057002

Super Baekdusan FOB ICBM

2012/04/28 [19:59] 

The 400-ton "Super Proton Baekdusan" ICBM should have infinite-range strike capabilities, as a fractional-orbit missile (FOBS)  Such a missile provides some advantages over a conventional ICBM. The range is limited only by the parameters of the orbit that the re-entry vehicle has been placed into, and the re-entry vehicle may come from either direction.

After launch it would go into a low Earth orbit and would then de-orbit for an attack. It had no range limit and the orbital flight path would not reveal the target location. This would allow a path to North America over the South Pole, hitting targets from the south, [thus the polar launch test conducted by Korea and Iran in 13 April 2012] which is the opposite direction from which NORAD early warning systems are oriented.


Comparative range of various ICBMs, with Korea's new FOB

Source
http://www.hinews.asia/sub_read.html?uid=1783&section=sc1

2012.04.27 02:23:57

그런데 이번 열병식에 나온 것이《화성13》호가 400톤급 토풀(Topol) M-25라니...더 무서운 것은 화성14호 15호, 16호, 17호 등 그 이상의 신형대륙간탄도미사일(ICBM)도 이미 실전에 배치되었지만 아직 아무에게도 공개하지 않았다는 사실이다.

But this time only the Hwasong-13 (Mars-13) ICBM is publicly displayed on parade, while the Hwasong-14 currently under development and even more powerful and more frightening Hwasong-15, Hwasong-16 and Hwasong-17 ICBMs have not been disclosed to anyone...

Source
http://www.minjok.com/news/news_view.php?code=37134