A close review of photos from North Korea's recent military parade revealed that the Kim regime may be closer to building a functional nuclear missile that can threaten the US mainland than previously thought. While some experts doubt that all the missile launcher tubes driving around Pyongyang really held missiles, or really posed a much of a threat, Michael Duitsman, a research associate at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies warned of a small but troubling detail on one of the missiles.
Duitsman told Business Insider in a phone interview that this may be wound filament reinforced plastic, a very light alternative to metal that can withstand the incredible pressure of rocket motors. Tal Inbar, head of the space research center at the Fisher Institute for Air & Space strategic studies, first pointed this out.
"Part of the parade is them showing us what they’re working on," said Duitsman. "Not stuff that’s operational, but stuff they’re actively working on. They’re showing us their intentions."
Duitsman said that wound filament reinforced plastic has up to ten times the strength to density ratio of aluminum, and could greatly reduce the weight of a missile.
"The lighter the stage is," said Duitsman, referring to the booster portion of the missile as a stage, "the less propellant you need, and the more you can put on top of it." In this case, the lighter missile could be used to carry a nuclear warhead.
While it seems like a small detail, Duitsman said that the Soviets and the US made similar breakthroughs when creating their ICBMs. Ultimately, if the North Koreans have advanced to composite materials and plastics in this part of their missile design, it means they're further along in their program than many experts suspected.
Though the North Koreans would still face problems in how to launch the missile and how to steer it, Duitsman said they could begin testing an ICBM that could reach Washington in as little as two or three years.
Did they factor in that the Norks have been working with Iran on this, and that all Iran's energies are focused on getting this to work before they break out with a miniaturized nuclear warhead and pop it on a known-working ICBM technology?