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| North Korea's Missile Success Is Linked to Ukrainian Plant, Investigators Say |
| 2017-08-15 |
| [NYT] North Korea’s success in testing an intercontinental ballistic missile that appears able to reach the United States was made possible by black-market purchases of powerful rocket engines probably from a Ukrainian factory with historical ties to Russia’s missile program, according to an expert analysis being published Monday and classified assessments by American intelligence agencies. The studies may solve the mystery of how North Korea began succeeding so suddenly after a string of fiery missile failures, some of which may have been caused by American sabotage of its supply chains and cyberattacks on its launches. After those failures, the North changed designs and suppliers in the past two years, according to a new study by Michael Elleman, a missile expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Such a degree of aid to North Korea from afar would be notable because President Trump has singled out only China as the North’s main source of economic and technological support. He has never blamed Ukraine or Russia, though his secretary of state, Rex W. Tillerson, made an oblique reference to both China and Russia as the nation’s "principal economic enablers" after the North’s most recent ICBM launch last month. Analysts who studied photographs of the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, inspecting the new rocket motors concluded that they derive from designs that once powered the Soviet Union’s missile fleet. The engines were so powerful that a single missile could hurl 10 thermonuclear warheads between continents. Those engines were linked to only a few former Soviet sites. Government investigators and experts have focused their inquiries on a missile factory in Dnipro, Ukraine, on the edge of the territory where Russia is fighting a low-level war to break off part of Ukraine. During the Cold War, the factory made the deadliest missiles in the Soviet arsenal, including the giant SS-18. It remained one of Russia’s primary producers of missiles even after Ukraine gained independence. Related: Telegraph - Ukraine denies selling North Korea nuclear missile engines |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #6 If North Korea has a couple of large Haas's, a BOM stock list, and prints, they could probably make the rocket engines. For example, Just because Pratt and Whitney _charges_ 38 million for an RL-10 engine doesn't mean it was that hard to build back in the 1990's when they charged a lot less for the four that went into the DC-X. (And those were specially modified with a different nozzle design to work with atmospheric backpressure, and therefore essentially custom engines with RL-10 turbomachinery). |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2017-08-15 19:07 |
| #5 Soo.. Does that mean the Russians are selling to the NorKs, or to the Iranians? Or the Chinese? Or It was mentioned in that ridiculously long message thread of another production site, albeit slower and lower production numbers. What's to stop the design from being 'quietly' produced or (more likely) assembled elsewhere, possibly in smaller numbers? |
| Posted by: Pappy 2017-08-15 14:37 |
| #4 NO! NY SLIME GOT IT WRONG AGAIN! The author of the original study mis-quoted by the NY Times is PISSED-OFF big time! The engines are a Ukrainian design made only in Moscow Russia under license by NPO Energomash. (Wikipedia on NPO Energomash Link including quote by Anatoly Zak who did the real research. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2017-08-15 13:00 |
| #3 1. The Houthis (or rather, renegade elements of the Yemen Army loyal to the deposed president) are using Russian-design missiles. 2. The Iranians are involved with the Houthi elements in Yemen. 3. The Iranians also have ties with North Korea, both in the NorKs training Iranian forces and cooperation on their respective nuclear programs. 4. The Iranians are flush with funds, both from Euros eager for profit(after lowered sanctions) and $400 million on pallets along with a note saying "With Love from Barry and Valarie". 5. The Ukranians aren't exactly the least corrupt people on the planet and they have a renowned fondness for cash. Have I missed anything? |
| Posted by: Pappy 2017-08-15 11:25 |
| #2 You mean the same "21 Intelligence Services" who missed 9/11, the rapidity of NORK nuke developments and seem certain Mr. Trump "colluded" with the Rooskies? That group of intelligence services? Although I am certain they could find out what I had for breakfast this morning. |
| Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy 2017-08-15 08:08 |
| #1 For a small, rather impoverished communist country which lacks the technology to provide electricity and food to it's people, they do seem to have made a giant leap forward in nuclear science and missile technology. Perhaps our illustrious "intelligence services" could shed some light on this topic. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2017-08-15 07:47 |