North Korea begins fuelling rocket: report

Hindustan Times ^ | 3/29/2012 | AFP

[U-238]

North Korea has begun fuelling a rocket for a launch that the West considers a missile test, a Japanese newspaper reported on Thursday, citing a source "close to the government" in Pyongyang.

"The launch is coming closer. The possibility is high that the launch date will be set for April 12 or 13," the source said according to the Tokyo Shimbun in a report from Seoul.

It cited the source as saying that North Korea had begun injecting liquid fuel into the rocket.

The paper also said a diplomatic source had confirmed that North Korea has moved the rocket to a launch pad in Tongchang-ri in the country's far northwest.

The report came after North Korea insisted Tuesday it would go ahead with what it says is a satellite launch, snubbing a call from US President Barack Obama to drop the plan and accusing him of a "confrontational mindset".

The United States has suspended plans to send food aid to North Korea, saying it has broken a promise to halt missile launches and cannot be trusted to give the help to those who need it, a Pentagon official said on Wednesday.

The West and North Korea's Asian neighbours have urged Pyongyang to give up on the rocket launch, which is seen as the pretext for testing ballistic missile technology.

[Still Thinking]

Oh, yeah. AFP. Always a reliable and knowledgeable source on arms tech.

The thing they think is a missile is probably a water tower.

[Rudder]

Not to worry, Obama, hisself, issued his disapproval.

Obama wants to remake America in his own image.

[U-238]

Maybe they are going to launch the rocket earlier than announced

[U-238]

The choice of liquid propellant may also influence other technology choices. Some liquid propellants are storable, and others must be cryogenically cooled to temperatures approaching absolute zero. The cryogenic coolers make the missile less mobile and more difficult to prepare to fire. The superpowers long ago abandoned nonstorable liquid-propellant missiles for these reasons, but a country that can support the technology to manufacture and store liquid oxygen and hydrogen may find this to be one possible path to making an ICBM.

http://www.fas.org/nuke/intro/missile/icbm.htm

[U-238]

In a liquid-fueled missile, the supply pressure to feed fuel and oxidizer to the thrust chamber may come either from creating an ullage pressure or pumping the liquids to the thrust chamber with turbopumps. Large volume flow rate pumps, particularly those designed for caustic fuels, have unique applications to ICBM construction. A proliferant may avoid the need for pumps by building tanks within the ICBM to contain an ullage pressure, which forces the liquids into the thrust chambers when the tanks are exposed to this high pressure. In most cases, ullage pressure is structurally less efficient than modern turbopumps because the missile frame must cover the ullage tanks, which are maintained at very high pressure and thus are quite heavy. However, this decrement in range performance is small. Since the technology is simpler to obtain, it may serve the needs of a proliferant. In either case, a liquid missile generally requires valves and gauges that are lightweight, operate with sub-millisecond time cycles, and have a reliable and reproducible operation time. These valves must also accept electrical signals from standard computer interfaces and require little, if any, ancillary electrical equipment.

http://www.fas.org/nuke/intro/missile/icbm.htm

[AmericanInTokyo]

This is expected to be a multi-staged Taepodong class. I am sure a big bird photo will be available soon. What a nice target for Navy Seals, though. Just sitting pretty there like that for nearly two weeks. Satelitte photographs show a rather concerted effort to protect it though, with barriers, barbed wire, 24/7 guards and the like as can be expected, but it is right smack on the coast line, probably only 2-3 kms inland from any landing spot possible.

[U-238]

The Rodong missile is the Scud variant

[ColdOne]

No cannot be so...bammy gave stern TOTUS supplied warning while in South Korea a few days ago..../s?

[U-238]

I would think that the North Koreans ditching their Taepodong missile in favor of the BM-25 missile.Its never going to work because its liquid fueled and you are using unstable elements..The BM-25 has a range of most bases in Asia.

[U-238]

Projecting When a Country Could and Is Likely To Test an ICBM

Expertise from inside and outside the Intelligence Community was used to examine many possible options for ICBM development and to determine when a country could test each option, based largely on technical, industrial, and economic capabilities. These judgments indicate when countries would be capable of testing if they met certain conditions, such as beginning engine testing by a certain date. This formulation also addresses what a country may be capable of achieving if a decision were made to try to field a missile as rapidly as possible and if the program progressed without significant delays. Other factors—including potential technical problems, motivations and intentions, and political and economic delays—then were applied to assess the likely timing of the country testing an ICBM. These judgments provide the Intelligence Community assessments of the most likely course of events based on a variety of factors. Providing assessments of when a country could and is likely to test an ICBM takes into account uncertainties and cases where a solid evidentiary base is not available for making more definitive assessments. The availability of foreign assistance is frequently a critical driver in both formulations, and is so noted, especially when foreign assistance accelerates the program dramatically. These assessments of future missile developments are, by their nature, subjective. This Estimate examines the level of success and the pace individual countries have experienced in their missile development efforts and considers foreign technology transfers, political motivations, military incentives, and economic resources. But it does not attempt to address all of the potential political, economic, and social changes that could occur; it projects missile developments between now and 2015 independent of significant political and economic changes. As each annual report is prepared, we review strategic trends that could indicate such changes and make necessary adjustments to the projections.

From a declassified Department of Naval Intelligence Report http://www.dni.gov/nic/PDF_GIF_otherprod/missilethreat2001.pdf

[BobL]

I hope they test an EMP-bomb. Hopefully one that just takes out GPS (and maybe a bit more). I REALLY want this country to wake up a bit and realize that just because we have, essentially, frozen ourselves (both militarily and economically), the rest of the world HAS NOT.

[U-238]

They have the non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse is an electromagnetic pulse generated without use of nuclear weapons.NNEMP generators can be carried as a payload of bombs, cruise missiles and drones, allowing construction of electromagnetic bombs with diminished mechanical, thermal and ionizing radiation effects and without the political consequences of deploying nuclear weapons.

http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/cc/apjemp.html