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The KN-08, also known under the names of No-dong-C and Hwasong-13 is a road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed and manufactured by North Korean defense industry. A Mock-ups of the missile were first displayed during a military parade in April 2012. In February 2016, it was announced that the first brigade of KN-8 missile is now in service with the North Korean Armed Forces. North Korea would have received six or eight WS-51200 trucks from China that were converted into transporter erector launchers for the KN-08 missile system. While a full-scale test flight of this system has not taken place, satellite imagery suggests that its engine has been repeatedly tested on the ground. Analysts conclude that the missile likely incorporates components of the Musudan and Taepodong-2 missile systems, and could have a range of 7,000 to 9,500 kilometers carrying a 500-700 ton warhead.
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| Launcher unit |
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The KN-08 missile is carried at the rear of 16-wheel truck chassis used as TEL (Transporter Erector Launcher) vehicle. The missile is raised to the vertical position at the back of the truck chassis before launch. Two hydraulic jacks located on each side at the rear of the truck chassis are lowered on the ground in firing position, there is also two small circular stabilisers at the rear of the missile launch unit to provide a more stable firing platform.
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| Missile |
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The KN-08 is a three-stage solid-fuel missile. The first stage is assumed to use two Nodong engines. Analysts estimate that - at least for the first stage of the rocket - a technology of the Soviet R-27 SLBM (Submarine-launched ballistic missile) is used. The second stage could use a single Nodong engine, a pair of Scud/Hwasong engines, or a single R-27 engine. The KN-08 could use new propellant tanks and structural elements optimized for its requirements, built around existing engines. The KN-08 missile has an estimated length of about 17.1 meters, and first and second stage diameter of about 1.9 meters, reducing to about 1.25 metres for the third stage. The KN-08 missile would have an estimated range of more than 3,400 miles (5,500 kilometers), but some military sources said that the missile can reach a target at a maximum distance of 10,000 km. It can be fitted with a 500 - 700 ton nuclear warhead. During a military parade, the North Korean announcer stated, "Our powerful tactical rockets loaded with diversified and miniaturized nuclear warheads are on the move." US intelligence believes North Korea is capable of miniaturizing a nuclear weapon and putting it on its KN-08 intercontinental ballistic missile, according analysis of the head of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Long-range ballistic missiles almost invariably use inertial guidance; radio command guidance is also possible and has been used on early cold-war era weapons, but is subject to jamming. North Korea has demonstrated the ability to use basic inertial guidance with its Nodong missiles and to some extent its Unha space launch vehicles and it is assumed that inertial guidance is used here. The upper stage of KN-08 seems to be based on R-27 missile, a medium-to-long-range air-to-air missile developed by the Soviet Union which has a circular error probable (CEP) of 1.9 km at a range of 2,400 km, according to Russian sources. At a range of 8,000 km, a KN-08 which can match the stated guidance performance of the R 27 would have an error ellipse of approximately 4 km cross-range and 8 km downrange, half of all missiles fired would be expected to fall within such an ellipse.
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| Mobility |
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The KN-08 missile is mounted at the top rear of Chinese-military truck chassis model WS-51200 manufactured by Wanshan Special Vehicle. The front of the truck is fitted with a four doors cab which can accommodates a total of five military personnel including driver and commander. The WS-51200 truck is motorized with 700hp KTTA19-C700,10 which is a design of the U.S. Cummins engine company, manufactured in China. The transmission of the WS51200 is identified as the ZF WSK440+16S251, a product of the German ZF Friedrichshafen AG company, which has many production facilities in China. The WS-51200 can run at a maximum road speed of 60 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 1,000 km.
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| Combat use |
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The KN-08 is classified as an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) which is a guided ballistic missile with a minimum range of 5,500 kilometers (3,400 mi) primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery. The KN-08, if operationally deployed, would be more difficult to defeat than fixed-site missiles because it could potentially be moved around secretly by the North Korean regime to make it more difficult for the U.S. to locate and target preemptively during a crisis. If an operational KN-08 is deployed, it will be a weapon of extremely limited capability. It will not be a truly mobile missile, requiring substantial support infrastructure at the launch site. At best this support infrastructure could be transported by truck and set up in the hours immediately prior to launch. Fueling a KN-08, with three stages and two propellant combinations, would probably take half an hour or so. Other steps necessary to prepare and fire the missile, not all of which can be conducted in parallel with fueling, would probably increase the prelaunch time scale to at least an hour.
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| Specifications |
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Type of missile
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ICBM Intercontinental ballistic missile
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Country users
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North Korea
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Launcher
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TEL mobile truck transporter - erector - launcher
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Warhead
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Nuclear
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Crew
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5 maximum
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Vehicle weight
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? kg
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Effective range
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6,500 km. maybe 10,000 km maximum
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Accuracy
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1.9 km CEP at 2,400 km
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Guidance
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Inertial system
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Dimensions vehicle
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Length: 20.11 m; Width: ? m; Height: ? m
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