By Rt.com: “North Korea Unveils Record Number of Missiles”
New ICBMs were on display during a military parade in Pyongyang marking 75 years since the foundation of the DPRK army
North Korea has again flexed its muscle, with a display in its capital Pyongyang on Wednesday of what experts soon observed was the largest number of intercontinental ballistic missiles that it has ever paraded.
The show of military force featured eleven of its newest Hwasong-17 rockets.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Thursday that the “grand” event had been held to celebrate the DPRK military’s 75th anniversary.
The country’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un watched the proceedings along with his wife Ri Sol-ju and their daughter Kim Ju-ae.
Among the “ultra-modern military hardware” featured in the parade were what KCNA described as “tactical nuclear weapons operation units.”
These were followed by Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), which, according to the state-run media, represent the “tremendous nuclear-strike capability of the DPRK.”
The message to any potential foes was the report explained.
Pyongyang conducted the first known test of the Hwasong-17 in 2022.
Taking to Twitter on Thursday, Ankit Panda from the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace argued that “this is cumulatively more ICBM launchers than we’ve ever seen before at a North Korean parade.”
Assessing the photos released by KCNA, media outlet Politico media warned that North Korea appears to now possess enough missiles to “conceivably overwhelm the United States’ defense against them.”
According to Politico’s estimates, the US has a total of 44 ground-based interceptors to destroy a potential incoming North Korean ICBM. However, if the DPRK’s missiles can carry four warheads, their number would exceed the number of American defenses, the report pointed out.
The article went on to describe this week’s parade as a “ ” that highlights Pyongyang’s “stunning military advancement and Western failures to get the ruling Kim family to part with its weapons.”
Some Western experts also paid particular attention to what they believe to be a prototype or mockup of a new solid-fuel ICBM.
While so far the DPRK has relied on missiles that have to be filled with liquid fuel at a launch site, the country has for some time been seeking to develop a solid-fuel alternative.
If North Korea succeeds, its military will have rockets that do not require a time-consuming fueling process before launch – which would make them harder for an enemy to spot during a conflict.
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By Sputnik News:
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – North Korea appears to have enough intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to overwhelm US midcourse air defenses on the West Coast, the American newspaper has estimated.
North Korea rolled 10 to 12 Hwasong-17 ICBMs during a military parade in Pyongyang on Wednesday night to mark 75 years since the establishment of its armed forces.
Photos were published by the country’s news agency.
The nuclear-capable Hwasong-17 is already believed to be able to reach the continental United States.
Assuming it can carry four warheads, North Korea could get some of them past the US ground-based midcourse defense system (GMD), which consists of 44 interceptors, the newspaper reported.
The publication added that the outlet had not received a response to its request for comment from the US National Security Council.
Pyongyang is yet to demonstrate that the missile can actually hit a target. It has only been test-fired once in November, and NATO allies alleged at the time that it failed.
GMD, which is located in California and Alaska, has been tested multiple times but was fired at night only once and it failed too, according to James Acton, military expert.
He said the sun allowed the tracking of the reentry vehicle carrying the warhead, making a night attack all the more plausible.
Republished by The 21st Century
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of 21cir.com.
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The following Photo Album is a partial portion of the Military Parade which took place in Pyongyang yesterday, on the 9th day of February, 2023, on the occasion of 75th Anniversary of Foundation of DPRK’s military in Pyongyang. A partial Photo Album below is obtained from a Seoul-based independent media, Jajusibo.com:
For more DPRK’s military parade photos are available from Jajusibo.com