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How Online Clues Located North Korea's Missile-Launcher Factories

Posted by timothy on from the follow-the-contrails-backwards dept.

itwbennett writes "It all started with a parade through Pyongyang on April 15, 2012, held to commemorate the birthday of the country's founder, Kim Il Sung. At this parade, one thing had analysts buzzing: six mobile launchers carrying KN-08 intercontinental ballistic missiles. Bloggers in China quickly noted the similarities between the trucks and those used by the Chinese military, right down to the shape of the windows and the grille pattern. It's the stuff of spy thrillers. A few seconds of video, literature, a couple of memoirs and Google Earth helped locate a secret North Korean military plant — and using none of the classified tools of the intelligence trade."

2 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. Oh, really? by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 5, Informative

    carrying KN-08 intercontinental ballistic missiles

    Last I checked, those KN-08 ICBM's were mock-ups, not real missiles.

    Note that apparently the KN-08 is a liquid-fueled ICBM, which means it is completely useless for defensive purposes (you don't store liquid fueled missiles fueled-up, you fuel them just before launch - which would take too long to allow them to be used to react to an attack), and only really useful for a first strike.

    --

    "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    1. Re:Oh, really? by erice · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Note that apparently the KN-08 is a liquid-fueled ICBM, which means it is completely useless for defensive purposes (you don't store liquid fueled missiles fueled-up, you fuel them just before launch - which would take too long to allow them to be used to react to an attack), and only really useful for a first strike.

      Not necessarily. Titan II used liquid fuel and could be kept fully fueled in the silo indefinitely.

      Atlas could be fueled in 15 minutes. Late variants reduced this further but loading the kerosene in times of high tension, which could remain in the rocket for long periods, and only waiting to the last minute to load the liquid oxygen. These versions were also kept in silos so they were only vulnerable during the time needed to load the oxidizer.