Posted on 07/17/2006 8:56:18 PM PDT by HAL9000
Intelligence services in Seoul and Washington are analyzing suspicions that the seven missiles North Korea test-fired on July 5 include two new intermediate-range ballistic missiles with a range of 2,500-4,000 km.A government source said spy agencies detected electronic signals different from the North’s Rodong or Scud missiles from two of six medium-range missiles the North test-launched on July 5.
Intelligence services considered whether they could be Scud-ERs with a range of up to 1,000 km, but additional analysis produced the suspicion that they could be a whole new type of IRBM, the source said.
If so, they are based on Soviet Navy SS-N-6 submarine-launched ballistic missiles and are 12 m long and 1.5 in diameter, shorter than the Rondong-1, which is 15 m long and the Taepodong-1, which measures 23 m. U.S. reconnaissance satellites spotted some 10 such missiles at the Mirim Airbase near Pyongyang ahead of the communist state’s Foundation Day in September 2003.
Signs that the missiles were deployed in Sangnam-ri and Heocheon County in North Hamgyeong Province were spotted in 2004 and there have been rumors that Pyongyang exported them to countries in the Middle East late last year. So far, no test launches were known to have been conducted. The missiles are believed to be capable of reaching the U.S. regional base in Guam.
believed by Kim Jong Il? Anybody else?
links to some info on range of missiles, capabilities, number of stages
http://www.missilethreat.com/overview/effectiveness.html
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iran/missile/
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