What Is Special About North Korea’s New ‘Iskander-Like’ Tactical Ballistic Missiles - And Why Pyongyang’s Adversaries Are So Concerned

First unveiled in a military parade in February 2018, North Korea’s new solid fuelled ballistic missile is reportedly set to replace the older Hwasong-6 and Toksa short ranged ballistic missiles in a short ranged tactical strike role. The first confirmed test of the missile took place on April 17th 2019, in what was widely seen as a signal of Pyongyang’s displeasure with the United States due to the latter’s unwillingness to alter its hardline position in negotiations. The platform closely resembles the Russian 9K720 Iskander tactical ballistic missile and has demonstrated a number of similar capabilities leading to speculation that technology transfers from Russia could have aided the East Asian state in developing the new missile. Both missiles use a solid fuel composite - allowing them to fire near instantaneously from highly mobile transporter erector launchers, and are controlled along every stage of their flight path to maximise precision. This also allows the missiles to be retargeted during flight to more effectively engage mobile targets. The missiles also retain the capability to follow irregular flight trajectories and perform complex manoeuvres during flight. This combined with their ability to release sophisticated decoys, and more significantly their ability to impact targets at high speeds of over Mach 5, makes them effectively impossible to intercept for even the most advanced air defence systems in service today.

Much as the Iskander’s capabilities have been cause for much concern among Western powers, so too have demonstrations of the capabilities of North Korea’s yet unnamed 'Iskander-like' missile been perceived as a considerable threat by its potential adversaries. It is notable that while the Iskander was developed under the constraints of the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, its Korean analogue was not. This means that North Korea is capable of developing tactical missiles with ranges of over 600km without violating treaty obligations - as was shown when a missile launched on July 25th reportedly demonstrated a range of at least 600km. This places U.S. military bases across all of South Korea within the missile’s range, and if equipped with chemical, cluster or penetrative warheads it would allow North Korea to effectively neutralise these bases in the opening hours of any potential conflict even if heavily fortified. The possibility of future variants using many of the same technologies, but with an extended range allowing them to reach targets in Japan, is also considerable. This would place major bases such as United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka, where the U.S. Navy’s 7th fleet is stationed, within range.