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Eric Gomez
The missile test conducted by North Korea over the weekend featured several technological developments that limit the ability of the United States to destroy North Korean missiles before they launch. A preemptive military response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, already fraught with difficulties and risks before the latest test, appears increasingly dangerous and unlikely to succeed. The Trump administration must account for the impact of this new missile technology as they plan America’s response to the latest missile test.
Imagery of the test indicates that the missile, called the Pukguksong-2, closely resembles the submarine-launched ballistic missile that was successfully tested in August 2016 and was cold launched from a tracked transporter erector launcher (TEL) vehicle. Moreover, the Pukguksong-2 uses solid rocket fuel unlike North Korea’s other intermediate-range ballistic missile, the Musudan, which uses liquid rocket fuel.
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/mobile-missiles-the-real-north-korea-threat-here-19428The tracked TEL and solid rocket fuel are the two developments that most complicate the response options of the United States, because they make the missile harder to detect and destroy before launching.
TELs are not a new technology in North Korea’s arsenal. In September 2016, the North Koreans tested three Scud-ER missiles from wheeled TELs on a paved highway. The use of paved roads for TEL transport does complicate the ability of the United States to track and target missiles before they fire, but North Korea’s poor infrastructure helps reduce this burden. In January 2017, International Institute for Strategic Studies executive director Mark Fitzpatrick and senior fellow Michael Elleman noted that North Korea has only 724 kilometers of paved roads, which significantly reduces the amount of space the United States would have to monitor in order to detect a missile launch before it happens. However, the most recent test used a TEL with tracks instead of wheels. That means that the Pukguksong-2 TEL can leave paved roads and fire from more rugged terrain, which significantly incre
