Seoul, South Korea
—
North Korea unveiled a new hypersonic glide plane and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at a military parade late Friday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea.
The hypersonic weapon Hwasong-11Ma, which state media called North Korea’s “most powerful nuclear strategic weapons system,” and the intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-20 were among the North Korean weapons unveiled at an overnight parade in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square.
The celebrations come a month after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un scored a major diplomatic victory when he visited Beijing for a massive Chinese military parade. Kim Jong Un, the leader of the Workers’ Party of Korea, has had a rare opportunity to stand alongside world heavyweights on the world stage, including Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kim ended his visit with a deeper strategic relationship and renewed friendship with China, North Korea’s long-time political and economic patron, and a growing desire to advance its missile and nuclear weapons programs.
Since that meeting in Beijing, state media has featured reports of North Korea’s new and improved weapons systems, including the Hwasong-11Ma and Hwasong-20, both equipped with maneuverable hypersonic warheads.
Mars 11Ma was first spotted a week ago at a military expo in Pyongyang.
The Hwasong-11 series of weapons are short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) based on Russia’s Iskander missile, which were used extensively in Moscow’s devastating attacks across Ukraine.
North Korea appears to have equipped the new 11Ma model with warheads carried by boost-glide aircraft, which are essentially flat, finned gliders that cause the warhead to follow an irregular trajectory towards its target, making it difficult for defenders to detect and hit by defensive missiles.
They are called hypersonic because they can perform these maneuvers while traveling at more than five times the speed of sound.
The Kim regime has been testing hypersonic gliders since at least September 2021. However, the January 2024 test used a solid-fuel booster rocket instead of the previous liquid-fueled one.
Solid fuel rockets are easier to move than liquid fuel rockets and can be launched quickly in minutes, making them more difficult to defend.
North Korea may benefit from lessons learned from its ally Russia’s use of the air-launched Iskander Kinzhal missile in Ukraine.
But an August report from the U.S. Congressional Research Service said many analysts were skeptical of Russia’s claims about Kinzhal’s effectiveness.
Earlier this year, North Korea announced that a new high-thrust rocket that powers its missiles had passed final tests.
Meanwhile, the appearance of the nuclear-capable Hwasong-20 was the first of North Korea’s latest intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
North Korea has not yet announced any flight tests, so the only thing seen at the military parade may have been a canister carrying the weapons on top of an 11-axis transport rocket.
North Korean state media said the engine was solid-fueled and made of carbon-fiber composite material and had been tested on the ground nine times.
The engine will also be used in the Hwasong-19 intercontinental ballistic missile, which has completed flight tests and experts believe has the range to hit anywhere in the United States, KCNA said.
It appears that the intercontinental ballistic missile was the last to roar past Kim Il Sung Square that night.
“The audience let out the most enthusiastic cheers when a column of Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missiles, North Korea’s most powerful nuclear and strategic weapon, entered the square and filled the tracks,” the Korean Central News Agency reported, using the initials of the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
While Western observers were keen to see the new missile, the parade also unveiled an upgraded main battle tank called the Tenma-20.
State media reported that the tanks “passed through the square with incredible striking capabilities and reliable defense systems, with the intention of annihilating the enemy.”
Also in the parade ranks were North Korean troops who fought against Ukraine and helped drive Kiev forces out of Russia’s Kursk region earlier this year.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s National Security Council, was among the foreign dignitaries taking part in the parade in Pyongyang.
