North Korea Claims to Test Hypersonic Missile

North Korea claims to have conducted its first test of a new hypersonic missile, an achievement of "great strategic significance," according to state media. The Hwasong-8 missile is presumed to be capable of carrying a nuclear or conventional warhead. Following the Sep 28 test, North Korea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inArms control today Vol. 51; no. 9; pp. 20 - 21
Main Author MASTERSON, JULIA
Format Magazine Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington Arms Control Association 01.11.2021
Subjects
Ballistic missiles
Intelligence gathering
Missiles
NEWS & ANALYSIS
Testing
Weapons testing
North Korea
United States > US
South Korea
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Summary:North Korea claims to have conducted its first test of a new hypersonic missile, an achievement of "great strategic significance," according to state media. The Hwasong-8 missile is presumed to be capable of carrying a nuclear or conventional warhead. Following the Sep 28 test, North Korean state media said that development of the hypersonic missile was "one of 5 top-priority tasks facing the strategic weapon sector" and released a photograph of the launch, which showed a vehicle resembling the shape of a hypersonic glide vehicle on top of a shortened version of an intermediate-range ballistic missile. Glide vehicles are a new type of hypersonic weapon, which can fly at least five times the speed of sound and are distinguished from traditional ballistic missiles by their ability to maneuver and operate at lower altitudes.
ISSN:0196-125X
1943-5754