Media Release
11 September 2008
Contact: Mandy Castle
Jane’s Information Group
Press & PR Officer
+44 (0) 208 700 3745
amanda.castle@janes.com
Jane’s Defence Weekly Uncovers North Korea's New Missile Facility
LONDON (11 September 2008) - |
Analysis of high-resolution commercially available satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe has allowed Jane’s Defence Weekly to verify the existence of North Korea’s new ballistic missile facility.
Located on the west coast of North Korea, several kilometres southwest of the village of Tongch’ang-dong, the new facility presents a challenge to US and foreign reconnaissance assets since it is obscured from direct airborne and seaborne observation by nearby hills. Difficulties with airborne reconnaissance are exacerbated by the facility's location at the northern reaches of the Yellow Sea between North Korean and Chinese airspace.
The base has been under construction for the past eight years and will be capable of launching both the Taepodong 2 ballistic missile and the Taepodong 2 space launch vehicle. The facility also has a rocket engine test stand, which is capable of supporting test firings of all known North Korean rocket motors.
Joseph S Bermudez Jr, Analyst for Jane’s Defence Weekly, commented, ‘The installation is small by Western standards but large by North Korean standards. The launch facility consists of a moveable launch pad and a 10-storey-tall umbilical tower capable of supporting North Korea’s largest ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles.’
‘About 1 km south of the launch pad there is a rocket engine test stand, which is very similar to the Shahid Hemmat test facility east of Tehran, Iran.’ Bermudez continued, ‘The North Korean and Iranian governments have been collaborating on ballistic missile programmes since the early 1980s. A recent example of this was Iran’s use of a Safir or Messenger) space launch vehicle to launch its Omid (Hope) satellite. The Safir is closely based on North Korea’s indigenous Nodong missile.’
The new missile and space launch facility is approximately one or two years away from final first-stage completion. The launch pad probably achieved an emergency launch capability in 2006, although no launches are known to have been conducted to date.
This facility shows that, despite continued economic, political and social hardships, North Korea continues to commit precious resources to the development of ballistic missile and space launch capabilities. While the US is continuing to force an end to North Korea's nuclear programme, its ballistic missile and space launch programmes appear to be continuing without much public objection.
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