North Korea says it tested a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) yesterday, dubbed the Hwasong-18, the first time it has used this propellant in a long-range projectile (it had done so before with short-range missiles). With the use of this technology, Pyongyang seeks to expand the country's counterattack capacity, that is, to gain reaction speed, since it allows the launch to be prepared with little preparation.
Here are some of the characteristics of solid fuel technology and how it can help the country led by Kim Jong Un:
A solid fuel rocket is a rocket with a motor that uses a solid propellant, a mixture of fuel and oxidizer. Metallic powders such as aluminum often serve as fuel, and ammonium perchlorate, which is the salt of perchloric acid and ammonia, is the most common oxidant. The fuel and oxidizer are bound by a hard rubber material and are packed in a metal casing.
When the solid propellant burns, the oxygen from the ammonium perchlorate combines with the aluminum to generate enormous amounts of energy and temperatures of over 2,760 degrees Celsius, creating propulsion and lifting the missile off the launch pad.
Solid fuel dates back to fireworks developed by the Chinese centuries ago, but it made spectacular progress in the mid-20th century, when the US developed more powerful propellants.
The Soviet Union launched its first solid fuel ICBM, the RT-2, in the early 1970s, followed by France's development of its S3, also known as SSBS, a medium-range ballistic missile. China began testing solid fuel ICBMs in the late 1990s.
South Korea, for its part, said Friday that it had already achieved "efficient and advanced" solid-propellant ballistic missile technology.
Liquid propellants provide greater thrust and propulsion power, but require more complex technology and additional weight.
Solid fuel is dense and burns fairly quickly, building thrust in a short time. It can remain in storage for a long period of time without degrading or breaking down, a common problem with liquid fuel.
Vann Van Diepen, a former US government weapons expert who now works on project 38 North, a specialized North Korean information portal, tells Reuters that solid-fuel missiles are easier and safer to operate and require less logistical support, making them harder to detect and more resilient than liquid fueled weapons.
Senior fellow at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Ankit Panda, told the same news agency that any country operating large-scale missile-based nuclear forces should have an interest in developing missiles of solid propellant, which do not need to be fueled immediately before launch. "These capabilities are much more responsive in times of crisis," Panda noted.
Effectively, the missile does not require the lengthy pre-launch propellant loading process that is necessary for liquid-fueled projectiles and exposes them to a possible pre-emptive attack by the enemy for a longer period of time.
Storage, deployment and operation are easier and more effective with the Hwasong-18 compared to the ICBMs that Pyonyang has been unveiling since 2017 (Hwasong-14, 15 and 17) and with which it could already theoretically reach the entire US territory and the almost the entire planet, with the exception of South America.
The development of a solid fuel ICBM has long been seen as a key goal for North Korea, as it could help the North deploy missiles faster during a war.
This new ICBM is an important stepping stone when it comes to increasing the variety and sophistication of an arsenal that makes it practically impossible to try to attack North Korean territory without triggering a retaliation from the Kim Jong Un regime that costs many lives.
At the same time, it is striking that North Korea has developed and tested a solid fuel ICBM less than six years after testing its first equivalent liquid fuel missile, an interval that was more than doubled in the case of giants. such as China (19 years) or India (13 years). Developing a solid fuel ICBM was one of the objectives set out in the five-year weapons modernization plan approved by the regime in January 2021.
North Korea said that the development of the Hwasong-18 would "radically advance" its nuclear counterattack capability. An estimate that the South Korean Defense Ministry tried to minimize, because it believes that Pyongyang will need "additional time and effort" to master the technology.
According to Panda, North Korea could have problems ensuring that such a large missile does not rupture when the diameter of the propellant increases. Yesterday your missile only flew 1,000 kilometers. Still, the expert says that while the Hwasong-18 is not a "game changer," it will most likely complicate the calculations of Washington, Seoul, and Japan, among others, during a conflict. "The most important interest that the United States and its allies have is to reduce the risks of nuclear use and the escalation derived from the possession of these weapons by North Korea," Panda concluded.
