In The Times this afternoon.
North Korea tests rocket motor for more advanced nuclear missiles
Snippet:-
North Korea has tested a solid-fuel rocket motor, according to state media, in a move that could accelerate its development of advanced missiles.
Kim Jong-un, the country’s leader, oversaw the test on Thursday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. It published a photo of a smiling Kim at an observation point by the test site, cigarette in hand, as a huge pall of smoke rises in the background.
The launch was “the first of its kind” in the North and is a “guarantee for the development of another new type strategic weapon system”, KCNA said.
“That, my friends, is the first stage of a solid propellant ICBM [intercontinental ballistic missile],” tweeted Jeffrey Lewis, of the Middlebury Institute for International Studies in California.
North Korea has tested liquid-fuelled ICBMs before, but solid-fuelled rockets are more stable and could be launched more rapidly, reducing the time in which an opposing nation could react, experts warn. ICBMs are designed to carry nuclear warheads.
Another turn on the ratchet...