For the first time, North Korea has publicly released photographs of their intercontinental ballistic missile launcher production workshop.
According to reports from the Korean Central News Agency on August 6, North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, inspected important military factories, including a large-caliber rocket artillery shell factory, from August 3 to August 5. The visits were intended to understand the implementation status of the core objectives of the Korean Workers’ Party’s military-industrial policy.
The report stated that Kim Jong-un inspected various facilities, including the large-caliber rocket artillery shell factory, a newly built microelectronics factory, a strategic cruise missile and drone engine factory. He also reviewed the production of a new series of sniper rifles and the manufacturing of important strategic weapons mounting vehicles.
To date, North Korea has successfully tested several types of intercontinental missiles. On July 12, North Korea tested the “Mars Cannon-18” type intercontinental ballistic missile, referring to the missile as a “core weapon system” of strategic armed forces. In July 2017, the “Mars-14” missile was successfully tested for the first time, with external analysis estimating the missile’s range to be over 6000 kilometers. In November 2017, North Korea tested the “Mars Cannon-15” intercontinental missile for the first time, and according to the United States’ assessment, the missile’s range exceeded 12,000 kilometers, covering most areas of the continental U.S., becoming North Korea’s first missile capable of deterring the U.S. mainland. In March 2022, North Korea test-fired the “Mars Cannon-17” new type of intercontinental missile, which has a maximum range of over 15,000 kilometers, with its larger size capable of carrying multiple warheads.
Previously, some Western intelligence agencies believed that North Korea lacked the capability to produce multi-axle transport/erector/launchers (TEL) for launching intercontinental missiles, and that all existing launchers were modified from multi-axle special vehicles imported for large timber transportation. Due to the limited number of these vehicles, North Korea’s expansion of nuclear weapons would be constrained. The release of photographs of the intercontinental ballistic missile launcher production workshop indicates that North Korea now possesses the capability to produce these specialized vehicles.