North Korea claims successful multi-warhead missile test | Gun News

This is the first known test of a so-called MIRV by Pyongyang, but South Korea questions the claim.

North Korea says it has successfully tested a multi-warhead missile, a sophisticated weapon that would give it the means to neutralize missile defenses on the continental United States, after a launch that South Korea and Japan say , ended in failure.

Pyongyang “successfully conducted the test of separation control and guidance of individual mobile warheads” on Wednesday, the official KCNA news agency reported. The separate mobile warheads “were correctly guided towards the three coordinated targets,” and a separate decoy of the missile was verified by radar.

“The test aims to ensure the capability of the MIRV,” he said, referring to the technology of multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles, which allows multiple warheads to be fired on a single ballistic missile.

North Korea is expanding its weapons as leader Kim Jong Un seeks to modernize the country's military. A multi-warhead missile was among the weapons he said the country would use at a ruling party meeting in early 2021, where he also mentioned spy satellites, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons and missiles launched from submarines.

“I have been waiting for a MIRV test for some time now, as it was one of the last items on Kim Jong Un's modernization wish list during the Eighth Party Congress in January 2021,” said Ankit Panda, senior analyst at Carnegie. Foundation for International Peace.

Panda said Wednesday's test appeared to be an initial assessment of some of the key subsystems for developing a working MIRV. He expects more tests to follow, leading to the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on a high trajectory.

“The presence of decoys is significant. North Korea has made no secret of its intention to strengthen and defeat US missile defenses,” Panda said. “The decoys will contribute to this effort and will likely also be integrated into their single-warhead missiles.”

The KCNA report comes a day after South Korea's military said Pyongyang launched a possible solid-fueled hypersonic weapon that may have exploded in mid-air, while Japan reported debris fell into waters at off the east coast of North Korea.

The South Korean military said a joint analysis with the U.S. military suggested the missile exploded during its initial phase of flight and that the weapon tested was not the one described by KCNA.

“Today North Korea revealed something, but we believe it is simply a means of deception and exaggeration,” said Lee Sung-joon, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. South Koreans, during a press briefing.

Photos released by the North claiming to be from Wednesday's test were also most likely fabricated or recycled images from a previous launch, he added.

Panda said it appeared Seoul “initially misinterpreted the nature of this test.”

South Korea, the United States and Japan condemned the launch as a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and a serious threat, and warned of further provocations following this week's summit. latest between Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which the two leaders signed a mutual defense pact.

Wednesday's test was the North's first weapons test since firing nuclear-capable multiple rocket launchers to simulate a preemptive attack on South Korea nearly a month ago.

In recent weeks, North Korea has also floated numerous trash-filled balloons across the southern border, in what it has described as a tit-for-tat response to South Korean activists sending political leaflets through their own balloons. In response, South Korea briefly broadcast propaganda broadcasts over loudspeakers in border areas on June 9 for the first time in years.