BM25 Musudan

Musudan
Type Ballistic missile, Mobile IRBM
Service history
In service In development, likely failed test on April 14, 2016[1][2]
Used by North Korea, possibly Iran
Production history
Manufacturer  North Korea
Specifications
Length 12m
Diameter 1.5m
Warhead Conventional, possibly nuclear
Warhead weight 1,000–1,250 kg (est.)[3]
Engine Liquid (same or derived from R-27 R-29)
Propellant storable liquid (also upper solid) , NTO N2O4 with UDMH (or Hydrazines , AK IRFNA , TG02 Samin Tonka with half the range)
Operational
range
 2,500–4,000 km (est.)[3]
Guidance
system
 Inertial
Launch
platform
 MAZ-based vehicle
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl 무수단
Hancha 舞水端
Revised Romanization Musudan
McCune–Reischauer Musudan

The Musudan (Chosŏn'gŭl: 무수단; hancha: 舞水端) missile 무수단 미사일 , officially Rodong-B 노동B , Hwasong-10 화성10호, also known by the names BM-25, Taepodong X, Nodong / Rodong-B and Mirim, is a mobile intermediate-range ballistic missile developed by North Korea. The Musudan was first revealed to the international community in a military parade on 10 October 2010 celebrating the Korean Worker's Party's 65th anniversary, although experts believe these were mock-ups of the missile.[1][2] The Musudan resembles the shape of the Soviet Union's R-27 Zyb submarine-launched missile, but is slightly longer.[2] On Kim Il Sung's 104th Anniversary, North Korea celebrated by testing a missile and failed. South Korea believes it was the Musudan. The validity is currently unknown.[4]

Development

In the mid-1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, North Korea invited the Makeyev Design Bureau's ballistic missile designers and engineers to develop this missile, based on the R-27 Zyb.

It was decided that, as the Korean People's Army's MAZ-547A/MAZ-7916 Transporter erector launcher could carry 20 tonnes, and the R-27 Zyb was only 14.2 tonnes, the R-27 Zyb's fuel/oxidizer tank could be extended by approximately 2 metres.[2] Additionally, the warhead was reduced from a three-warhead MIRV to a single warhead.

The actual rocket design is a liquid fuel rocket, generally believed to use a hypergolic combination of unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) as fuel, and nitrogen tetroxide (NTO) as oxidizer.[2] Once the fuel/oxidizer combination are fed into the missile, it could maintain a 'ready to launch' condition for several days, or even weeks, like the R-27 SLBM, in moderate ambient temperatures. A fueled Musudan would not have the structural strength to be safely land transported, so would have to be fueled at the launch site.[2]

It was originally believed that Musudan's rocket motors made up the second stage of the Taepodong-2, which North Korea unsuccessfully test fired in 2006.[5] However analysis of the Unha-3 launch, believed to be based on the Taepodong-2, showed that the second stage did not use the same fuel as the R-27, and is probably based on Nodong rocket technology.[2] There is a possibility that the Musudan likewise is using the Nodong's kerosene and corrosion inhibited red fuming nitric acid (IRFNA) propellants, reducing the missile's range by about half.[2][6]

History

On April 6, 2013, reports suggested two Musudan rockets were carried to a base near the eastern coast of North Korea and prepared for a likely launch.[7] This could have been intended to be the first ever test of the rocket or a military drill. On May 7, 2013, it was reported that these two Musudan rockets were moved away from their coastal launch site.[8]

On April 14, 2016, it was reported that one or two Musudan rockets were being prepared for launch in the port city of Wonsan.[9] On the 104th anniversary of the birthday of Kim Il Sung, North Korea launched what was believed to be a BM25 Musudan from its east coast at 5:30 a.m. local time, but South Korea said it deviated from a "normal" trajectory and the launch is presumed to have failed; U.S. Strategic Command systems also “detected and tracked” the missile, also assessing that the launch failed.[10] Then on 28 April, two missile launches were conducted that South Korea believes were the second and third tests of the Musudan, both of which failed; one was fired in the morning off the northeastern coast and crashed a few seconds after liftoff, and another in the evening was launched but also presumably failed. This brings the total number of Musudan test launches, and failures, to three in a single month.[11]

Description and technical specifications

Estimated maximum range of some North Korean missiles [12]

Musudan

Operators

Map with BM25 operators in blue

Current operators

Section 25 of this leaked cable (written before the 10 October 2010 appearance of the missile)[16] says:

Russia said that during its presentations in Moscow and its comments thus far during the current talks, the U.S. has discussed the BM-25 as an existing system. Russia questioned the basis for this assumption and asked for any facts the U.S. had to provide its existence such as launches, photos, etc. For Russia, the BM-25 is a mysterious missile. North Korea has not conducted any tests of this missile, but the U.S. has said that North Korea transferred 19 of these missiles to Iran. It is hard for Russia to follow the logic trail on this. Since Russia has not seen any evidence of this missile being developed or tested, it is hard for Russia to imagine that Iran would buy an untested system. Russia does not understand how a deal would be made for an untested missile. References to the missile's existence are more in the domain of political literature than technical fact. In short, for Russia, there is a question about the existence of this system.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 John Pomfret and Walter Pincus (1 December 2010). "Experts question North Korea-Iran missile link from WikiLeaks document release". Washington Post. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Markus Schiller (2012). Characterizing the North Korean Nuclear Missile Threat (Report). RAND Corporation. ISBN 978-0-8330-7621-2. TR-1268-TSF. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Facts about North Korea's Musudan missile". AFP (GlobalPost). 8 April 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013. IHS Jane's puts the estimated range at anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres ... potential payload size has been put at 1.0-1.25 tonnes.
  4. ↑ John Schilling (12 March 2015). "Where's That North Korean ICBM Everyone Was Talking About?". 38 North (U.S.-Korea Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies). Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  5. ↑ 2nd 3rd Right Side
  6. ↑ Markus Schiller, Robert H. Schmucker (31 May 2012). Explaining the Musudan (PDF) (Report). Schmucker Technologie. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "White House: Would 'not be surprised' if N. Korea launches missile". Fox News. 5 April 2013.
  8. ↑ Stewart, Phil (7 May 2013) North Korea moves missiles away from coastal launch site, say US officials The Independent, Retrieved 7 May 2013
  9. ↑ Ahn, JH (14 Apr 2016) North Korea deploys missile for possible launch North Korea News, Retrieved 14 Apr 2016
  10. ↑ North Korea’s missile launch has failed, South’s military says - Washingtonpost.com, 15 April 2016
  11. ↑ South Korea: Suspected midrange North Korean missiles fail - Airforcetimes.com, 28 April 2016
  12. ↑ BBC News - How potent are North Korea's threats?
  13. ↑ http://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/missiles-10132010181348.html North’s Missiles Raise Concerns, Radio Free Asia, 13 October 2010
  14. ↑ North Korea Rolls Out Ballistic Missiles, Global Security Newswire, 13 October 2010
  15. ↑ William J. Broad; James Glanz; David E. Sanger (28 November 2010). "Iran Fortifies Its Arsenal With the Aid of North Korea". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 November 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  16. ↑ "10STATE17263".

External links

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