The Transfer of a Russian ICBM to North Korea?

https://beyondparallel.csis.org/the-transfer-of-a-russian-icbm-to-north-korea/#:~:text=North Korea's Hwasong-18 ICBM,technical cooperation sourced to Russia


The title pretty much says it all. North Korea's new ICBM, is a totally different type, and a whole new level of technology, above everything they've had, up until now. It moves from liquid to solid fuel, for greater payloads & greater distance, and also newly has the ability to deploy countermeasures, to defeat U.S. missile defenses.

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Key Findings
North Korea’s Hwasong-18 ICBM and its July 12, 2023 successful launch is likely the result of technical cooperation sourced to Russia.
Unlike the North Korean liquid propellant ICBMs which North Korea has demonstrated over the past few years, the sudden appearance of a solid fueled ICBM occurred only months after a horizontal engine test. This test demonstrated that the Hwasong-18 can deliver substantial payloads to intercontinental ranges along with decoy canister countermeasures. The sudden appearance of these advanced capabilities is difficult to explain without cooperation from the Russian government and its scientists.

The reported physical dimensions and flight trajectory data of the Hwasong-18 is nearly identical to that of the Russian Topol-M ICBM (SS-27 Mod 2).

This missile is equipped to penetrate existing U.S. ballistic missile defenses with countermeasures and deliver multiple thermonuclear weapons to targets in the continental United States. A Hwasong-18 missile force will require the U.S. to consider additional concepts for missile defense including the use of airborne drone interceptors (“airborne patrol”).

A transfer of this ICBM or its related technology from Russia would violate an unwritten international protocol to both refrain from and prevent transferring nuclear strike capabilities to other parties.

The July 2023 visit by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to DPRK to attend the 70th anniversary of the Korean war armistice, and the personal audience with Kim Jong-un, is only the latest manifestation of growing Russian-DPRK ties that include the transfer of munitions in support of Russia’s war in Ukraine and Russian food and energy transfers to the North in return. This potential transfer of the Topol-M missile or its technology would take cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang against the U.S. and Indo-Pacific allies to a new and more dangerous level.
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Do I need wonder if Russia's getting so chummy with North Korea, cools the warm regards held by any of our Russia-friendly members?

 

The Russia-friendly members are Russians in fact.

 

Yeah, I kind of figured that this was often the case. But I would not expect this to be so, in all cases. I mean, look at the MAGA barometer, Tucker Carlson, who seems to be a Putin fan, not to mention Donald Trump, himself, who talks admiringly about how smart Putin is. You don't think either of them are secret Russian agents, do you? So there is definitely an overlap between Trump/MAGA enthusiasts and, for whatever reasons, being kindly disposed toward Russia & Putin.

 

No, I think they are right. While I view Putin as a monster and a problem for the west I don't question his intelligence. He is a very smart man.

 

But they are also approving of his way of doing things, and have taken Putin's side, even against our own intelligence agencies. When Tucker lambastes our support of Ukraine, you understand, he is serving Putin's purposes. Likewise, Trump was one to repeat Kremlin propagandistic talking points. So that was my point: that there certainly are genuine Americans, who act as Putin cheerleaders: who see his style of leadership as admirable; who believe that Russian society shares their own moral disposition.

For whatever their reasons, not everyone on PF, justifying Putin's conduct, is a Russian troll.

 

True but not every opposition to the U.S. involvement in Ukraine is about Putin either. I oppose it but for economic reasons, not political ones. I understand why Americans root for Ukraine but the fact that Putin invaded isn't a valid reason to take the dive. The problem is in Europe, not North America. We can root from the sidelines in my view. I certainly side with the Ukrainians and I'm very impressed with how well they have dealt with the invasion. I hope they win the conflict. I'm just not willing to pay for it. We are spending money we don't have to spend and it affects Americans and the economy negatively.

The U.S. government has handled it badly as expected. They have provided enough assets to prolong the war in the hope that it can end with an agreement. Neither the Russians nor Ukrainians want that. If we must fund the Ukrainians then we should provide enough assets to get it done quickly. The current process is bleeding us financially and bleeding Ukrainians literally.

 

I was going to say that they only get one shot with this new ICBM, so they better make it count, but then I read that it delivers multiple thermonuclear bombs. So, I guess it splits apart once it’s past any missile defenses.

The North Koreans would still need to test it first or else risk miscalculating in any attack. And there’s only one, so far. But more could be on the way knowing Russia.

It’s more of a scare tactic, I think, but it could be justification for the USA to arm our own allies in Asia with ICBMs of their own or at least call for the development, implementation, and deployment of missile defense systems across Asia and the United States.

One thing’s for sure, things are about to become a whole lot more expensive. As it costs money to create these things.

 

MAGA’s prefer Russia’s fascist regime over America’s woke regime.

 

Congratulations to the Uniparty. You did this.

 

I'm not sure what a MAGA is but I've never met a conservative that would prefer a government like that of Russia. Certainly there is handful of nut cases out there that would prefer that but they are insignificant. Not worth the mention.

 

My post was a bit of sarcasm with the truth about America’s woke government.

 

Russia would not give North Korea operational control of any nuclear weapons.

 

OK

 

@DEFinning

Wow.... took all of 3 post to slam Trump and Make America Great Again....

Why do you hate America so much?...

 

Does North Korea have the right sort of warheads to put multiples on an ICBM? My understanding is that their weapons are relatively crude. Obviously the range of this thing could be a concern, but I'd be curious to know what sort of warheads they can put on it.

 

Or so they say, but few seem to want to go live there.

How can the part about our "woke" government being worse than Putin's Fascism, be the "truth," if the part about preferring Fascism, isn't true?

I will save you considerable time, and probable headaches: it can't be. Instead of "sarcasm," what you appear to have meant, was that your first post was gross "exaggeration," or farce-level "hyperbole." It was your whining about the your complaints, vastly out of proportion with reality: basically, the thing for which MAGA Republicans, are best known-- professing self-pitying victimhood.

 

Apparently, you wrote that without reading the article, or any news reports. Because you believe yourself to know Putin, better than anyone else in the world does? Or maybe you know of all possible and impossible events that could occur in our world-- and without even needing to stay abreast of any new information... my, isn't that special, of you?

 

Which do you choose?

 

But he armed the Ukrainians with deadly weaponry, and US soldiers under Trump killed countless Russians in Syria.

 

Your post is nonsense. For starters, I did not say anything that was not true-- and I noticed that you did not quote anything from any of my posts. That, alone, makes your post worthless trash. Why don't you quote the words of mine, to which you are objecting, in such an over-the-top fashion?

Secondly, it is sadly defective logic, that slamming Trump and MAGA, even if I had done so, would be proof that I "hate America." More likely, the opposite correlation would be true.

 

Fact check: 1) We did not kill "countless" Russians, in Syria. We deliberately avoided any battles with Russian military. There were a few Russian citizens, who were Wagner group mercenaries, who were killed in the fighting. Again, not in any way a sign that President Trump was tough on Russia (to whom we left Syria, if you recall).

<Google Snip>
Did US and Russia fight in Syria?

The possibility of Russian military forces and American troops colliding in Syria was a constant concern as the adversaries took opposing sides in Syria's seven-year civil war. In February 2018, this battle became one of the rare occasions that American and Russian combatants exchanged fire.May 11, 2023
https://thewarhorse.org › special-for...
American Special Forces Versus Russian Mercenaries in Syria - The War Horse
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The Battle of Khasham
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The United States explained the attack by stating that the pro-government forces had "initiated an unprovoked attack against well-established Syrian Democratic Forces headquarters" in the area, while coalition service members were "co-located with SDF partners during the attack 8 kilometers (5 mi) east of the agreed-upon Euphrates River de-confliction line".[18][19][20] The Russian Ministry of Defence's statement, released on 8 February 2018, referred to the incident at the village of Salihiyah (located south of the SDF-held town of Abu Hamam in the Abu Kamal District) and said that it was caused by reconnaissance actions of Syrian militias that had not been cleared with the Russian operations command; the statement stressed that there were no Russian service members in the "designated district of the Deir ez-Zor province of Syria".[21][22]

The U.S. military stated that one hundred Syrian pro-government fighters were killed in the U.S. attack, prompting Syria to accuse the United States of carrying out a "brutal massacre" of its troops and Russia to accuse the U.S. of being economically motivated in its actions, citing nearby oil fields.[13] As unconfirmed accounts of casualties among Russian Wagner Group mercenaries in the strike emerged, the incident was billed by media as "the first deadly clash between citizens of Russia and the United States since the Cold War".[23]
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khasham


2) Trump only supplied those weapons to Ukraine which he was constrained to deliver, as they had been mandated by Congress (without Trump's encouragement). Again, your memory seems a bit foggy, if you don't recall that Trump actually dragged his feet on fulfilling this Congressionally authorized delivery.

 

Bidenists prefer communism over Democratic laws.

 

Wasn't it the Left who invented Wokism and the Me-Too crybaby unit of which all they do is whine and cry then use Trump Derangement syndrom to infect every thread with their Trump Derangement rants?

Would be nice for people to debate on topic without Trump Derangement folk whining and crying about Trump.

I hate both Biden and Trump, but I don't feel a need to inject them into every thread. Go whine to your mother about it.

 

Which administration started that conflict?

Which administration ended it?

 

A post full of whining, insult, and untruth-- are you sure you're not a Trump supporter? Because all that self-righteous bullshit, dripping with contempt, has a very MAGA-like ring to it.