N Korea fires ICBM designed to hit U.S.

North Korea has launched an intercontinental ballistic missile with sufficient range to hit the U.S. mainland, Japan’s defence minister says


Approximate path: Missile flies 1,000km, reaching maximum altitude of 6,100km before landing 210km west of Hokkaido

Nov 18, Sunan: Missile launch area

NORTH KOREA
Pyongyang
Seoul
CHINA 
RUSSIA
SOUTH KOREA
Sea of Japan (East Sea)
HOKKAIDO
Oshima Island
JAPAN 
Tokyo
PACIFIC OCEAN 
200km 125 miles


Hwasong-17
Two-stage, liquid-fuelled ICBM

Diameter
Between 2.4 and 2.5 metres. Size suggests missile can carry multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) – allowing single missile to attack several targets

First stage
Can house four rocket motors

RD-250-type engines

Launch suspected to be new Hwasong-17 – North’s longest-range ICBM, according to South Korean defence sources

Unlike previous ICBM tests, Hwasong-17 is launched directly from Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) vehicle


Sources: Reuters, Yonhap, CSIS 
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