|
Big North Korean Military Parade
For the first time ever, every big missile shown has been flown and validated to some degree. And yes, the largest of Kim Jong Un's weapons, the first intercontinental ballistic missile ever fired by the country, the Hwasong-14 (HS-14) was on full display, as was its menacing bigger brother, the Hwasong-15 (HS-15). Kim Jong Un, wearing all black with his signature fedora, was the center of attention as always. He gave a brief speech and then took in the display with his regime henchmen by his side. His wife Lee Seol-ju was also in attendance, which is a fairly rare occurrence for an event like this. After the normal military parade ground pomp and circumstance, a formation of AN-2 biplanes—a seemingly innocuous aircraft that is actually a key weapon in North Korea's arsenal—made a fairly impressive flyover. The formation spelled out "70" and coordinated flare releases looked very nice, which also spelled 70 one after another. The picture doesn't do it justice, it looked very well done. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the party and the North Korean nation as we know it today. Later on a formation of Su-25 ground attack jets also did a large fan-break over the parade ground. Once again, for a country supposedly suffocating from fuel shortages, this was surprising. These vehicles and their missiles were interesting. They look like KN-02 short-range ballistic missiles, or an evolution of that system, but mounted two per vehicle instead of one. The carriage layout is similar to that of Russia's Iskander tactical ballistic missile system. These smaller missiles don't get the same hype as their larger cousins, but they will be the ones that rain down en masse on South Korea during a conflict, and will be used to strike targets beyond the range of North Korea's traditional artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems arrayed along the DMZ. With this in mind, this could be a new system altogether which would be a troubling development. Now we are getting into the heaviest hardware, the intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The HS-14, North Korea's first ICBM that flew twice last July, made an appearance in the parade, but instead of being on a large TEL, the missiles were transported on the back of semi truck tractor-trailers. Now to the finale, and the system most analysts were waiting to see, the massive HS-15. The ICBM was seen on its purpose-built nine axle TEL. There is no denying that the missile looked impressive as it was wheeled down the street, and it really does represent a new point in what has been a seemingly unbelievable arch in North Korean weapons development over the last two years. Fact: Kim Jong Un no longer has to scare us with hollow missiles riding atop trucks, he now has the real thing. The big takeaway here should be: "Underestimate the North Koreans at your own peril." Posted by: 3dc 2018-02-10 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=507766 |