North Korea carried out a new test of a high-power solid fuel engine for strategic weapons, in yet another move to modernize its military arsenal. The rehearsal was accompanied by leader Kim Jong-un, who classified the advance as relevant to strengthening the country’s deterrence capacity, according to the state agency Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
According to KCNA, the tested engine uses carbon fiber composite materials and had a maximum thrust of 2,500 kilotons, higher than that recorded in previous tests. The government did not provide the exact location or date of the experiment.
The development is part of a five-year military expansion plan that includes the improvement of “strategic attack means”, a phrase normally associated with nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Continues after advertising
North Korea has already demonstrated, in recent tests, the potential ability to reach the continental United States. Newer models, powered by solid fuel, are more difficult to detect before launch, as they do not require the fueling time required for liquid-fuel missiles.
Despite the advances, there are disagreements among analysts about the stage of the program. Some experts point to technical challenges, such as the resistance of warheads during re-entry into the atmosphere. Others consider that the development time already accumulated may have reduced these limitations.
The test comes a few days after Kim’s speech in Parliament, in which he reaffirmed his intention to consolidate the country’s nuclear status and criticized the actions of the United States, which he classified as global “state terrorism and aggression”, in an indirect reference to the escalation in the Middle East.
