New analysis shows North Korea's ICBM is basically useless

Advertisement

Kim Jong Un inspects the intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14. The North Korean leader said the test completed his country's strategic weapons capability that includes atomic and hydrogen bombs and ICBMs, the state KCNA news agency said.KCNA/via REUTERS

Thomson Reuters

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects the intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 in this undated photo released by KCNA.

Advertisement

North Korea shocked the world with a July 4 launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, but according to a new analysis done by Breaking Defense, the missile is basically useless.

While the missile did demonstrate a much longer range than needed to be considered an ICBM, authors Ralph Savelsberg and James Kiessling compared it to other ICBMs and found it much too small to deliver a meaningful payload at important ranges.

Compared to the vehicle North Korea has used to launch satellites, the country's ICBM - called the KN-14 or Hwasong-14 - is about half as long and significantly thinner. They conclude that the KN-14 can't really carry a big payload like satellite launch vehicles, but that the satellite launch vehicles can't withstand being carted around like the KN-14 can.

Additionally, the US shouldn't count on the North Koreans to accurately target cities. At full range, the authors suggest the KN-14 would only be able to land within about 19 miles of a target.

Advertisement

While North Korea has demonstrated the technology requisite to large a land warhead on the US mainland, the KN-14 simply wasn't it.

Read the full report here

NOW WATCH: Watch the US THAAD missile defense system strike a ballistic missile in a target test