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New SLBM. Pukgukgong-3.
(Rather, probably Pukguksong-3.)
This is the part of the day where I manually DoS KCNA.
There it is. Blunt up top. Solid fuel. Apparently ejected from underwater. 
@DaveSchmerler has more. That’s what the earth looks like from 910 km, apparently (or close to it). Not the first time the North Koreans have streamed footage from space.
@DaveSchmerler Ejection sequence. (Not from a submarine, but an underwater launch platform.)
@DaveSchmerler First reaction: it doesn’t look like the Pukguksong-3 schematic we saw 2 years ago.
@DaveSchmerler Well, unless that’s not the canister, but a two-stage JL-2-style blunt-topped SLBM. (JL-2 pics for comparison.)
@DaveSchmerler Another shot, showing a nearby towing vessel for a presumed submersible launch platform.
@DaveSchmerler This all-new missile will need to be measured & assumptions about the new North Korean SSB under construction at Sinpo revisited.
@DaveSchmerler This is the first SLBM test since August 2016. This is the longest-range-capable solid-fuel missile in North Korea ever. This is unambiguously the first nuclear-capable missile test since November 2017. #NorthKorea
@DaveSchmerler Kim Jong Un’s ‘rocket men’ kept busy during the diplomatic charm offensives of 2018-2019.
@DaveSchmerler Detail. (Better res. to come.)
@DaveSchmerler Small detail, but looks like this missile has a JL-2-style aft engine cover that is popped off after ejection.
@DaveSchmerler Here’s what I mean. (We literally got the first-ever pictures of the JL-2’s back-end a day ago.)
@DaveSchmerler The Chinese programmatic influences on DPRK’s SLBM design choices seem pretty clear. Pukguksong-1 had a JL-1-ish vibe; this one has a JL-2-ish vibe. (Does *not* mean any proliferation occurred, contra some conspiracy theories.)
@DaveSchmerler Couple better quality shots.
@DaveSchmerler So far no pictures with any reference points that’d be useful for mensuration. Frustrating with sub-launched missiles when you just have water all around. Hoping for photos of prep/inspection pre-launch.
@DaveSchmerler Something very interesting about all the images released so far. Notice something missing?
@DaveSchmerler No Kim Jong Un!
@DaveSchmerler That’s new. He’s been at every inaugural flight-test of a new missile under his tenure.
A new approach to image management as the leader of a nuclear-armed state?
A new approach to image management as the leader of a nuclear-armed state?
@DaveSchmerler True. The SLBM program has been noticeably more deception-based in the past.
@DaveSchmerler KCNA: “The Academy of Defense Science of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea succeeded in test-firing the new-type SLBM Pukguksong-3”
@DaveSchmerler KCNA: “The test-firing scientifically and technically confirmed the key tactical and technical indexes of the newly-designed ballistic missile and had no adverse impact on the security of neighboring countries.”
@DaveSchmerler KCNA: “Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un sent warm congratulations on behalf of the Central Committee of the WPK to the national defense scientific research units involved in the test-firing.” (He wasn’t there.)
@DaveSchmerler KCNA: “The successful new-type SLBM test-firing comes to be of great significance as it ushered in a new phase in containing the outside forces' threat to the DPRK and further bolstering its military muscle for self-defence.”
@DaveSchmerler Tweet-sized cheat-sheet:
–Pukguksong-3
–Solid-fueled
–Cold-launched from TULP
–2-stage
–910 km apogee/450 km range (~1,900 on MET)
–No Kim Jong Un at launch
–Launched off Wonsan
–Longest-range solid-fuel missile seen in #NorthKorea
–First “strategic” launch since November 2017
–Pukguksong-3
–Solid-fueled
–Cold-launched from TULP
–2-stage
–910 km apogee/450 km range (~1,900 on MET)
–No Kim Jong Un at launch
–Launched off Wonsan
–Longest-range solid-fuel missile seen in #NorthKorea
–First “strategic” launch since November 2017
@DaveSchmerler Interesting sentence from KCNA: “The new-type ballistic missile was fired in vertical mode.”
Is there another mode?
Is there another mode?
@DaveSchmerler North Korea hasn’t flight-tested a liquid-propellant missile since November 2017. Their proficiency with solid propellants is really something now. I wonder if *this* engine—vs. the KN23/ATACKims booster—was the October 2017 static test, perhaps.
@DaveSchmerler For reference, I reported on that test: thediplomat.com/2017/10/north-…
@DaveSchmerler The difference 26 months makes.
@DaveSchmerler Full KCNA English statement in one screenshot.
