Interactive & Visualization

North Korean Ballistic Missile Models

Part of 3D Missile Model Collection

Screenshot of a 3D model of a North Korea missile (Hwasong-15)

About the image

North Korean Ballistic Missile Models

Save to My Resources

Want to dive deeper?

Visit the Education Center

This article is a companion piece to North Korea’s missile page and missile table.

Name: Hwasong-15
Other names:
Type: Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM)
Length: 21.3 – 22.5 m
Diameter: 2.0 – 2.4 m
Payload: Unknown
Range: 8,500 – 13,000 km
Status: Testing

Sources:
[1] James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
[2] Michael Elleman, “The New Hwasong-15 ICBM: A Significant Improvement That May be Ready as Early as 2018″, 30 November 2017, 38north.org
[3] Norbert Brugge, “North Korea’s ultimate nuclear ICBM “Hwasong-15” (HS-15)”, 17 February 2018, www.b14643.de

Name: Hwasong-14
Other names:
Type: Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM)
Length: 19.5 – 19.8m
Diameter: 1.7 – 1.9 m
Payload: Unknown
Range: 10,400 km
Status: Testing

Sources:
[1] James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
[2] David, Wright, “North Korean ICBM Appears Able to Reach Major US Cities” Union of Concerned Scientists, 28 July 2017, allthingsnuclear.org.

Name: Hwasong-12
Other names: KN-17
Type: Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM)
Length: 17.4m
Diameter: 1.65m
Payload:
Range: 4,500+ km
Status: Testing

Sources:
James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies

Name: Kwangmyongsong
Other names: Unha-3 mod: 2, Taepodong-3
Type: Ballistic/ Space Launch Vehicle
Length: 30m
Diameter: 2.4/1.50/1.25m
Payload: 100-1000kg *payload varies due to vehicle use
Range: 12,000+ km
Status: Operational

Sources:
James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies

Name: Unha-3
Other names: Taepodong-3
Type: Ballistic/ Space Launch Vehicle
Length: 30m
Diameter: 2.4/1.50/1.25m
Payload: 100-1000kg *payload varies due to vehicle use
Range: 10,000+ km
Status: Operational

Sources:
[1] Norbert Brugge, “Asian Space-rocket Liquid-propellant Engines,” B14643, www.b14643.de.
[2] Duyeon Kim, “Fact Sheet: North Korea’s Nuclear and Ballistic Missile Programs,” The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, July 2013, https://armscontrolcenter.org.
[3] “North Korea Rocket ‘has 10,000km Range,’” BBC News Asia, December 23, 2012, www.bbc.com.
[4] Markus Schiller, “The Unha-3: Assessing the Successful North Korean Satellite Launch,” Federation of American Scientists, February 20, 2013, https://fas.org.

Name: Taepodong-2
Other names: Unha-2, Paektusan-2, Moksong-2
Type: Ballistic
Length: 29m
Diameter: 2.4/1.25/0.88m
Payload: 100-500kg
Range: 6,000-9,000km
Status: Operational

Sources:
[1] “Strategic Weapon Systems: Jane’s Sentinel Security Assessment – China and Northeast Asia,” IHS Jane’s, 7 July 7, 2014, janes.https://ihs.com.
[2] Charles P. Vick, “Taep’o-dong 2 (TD-2),” Federation of American Scientists, May 12, 2014, https://fas.org.
[3] David Wright, “An Analysis of North Korea’s Unha-2 Launch Vehicle,” Union of Concerned Scientists, March 20, 2009, www.ucsusa.org.

Name: Taepodong-1
Other names: Paektusan, Moksong
Type: Ballistic
Length: 24m
Diameter: 1.25/0.88m
Payload: 100-200kg
Range: 2,000-2,900km
Status: Operational

Sources:
[1] Duyeon Kim, “Fact Sheet: North Korea’s Nuclear and Ballistic Missile Programs,” The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, July 2013, https://armscontrolcenter.org.
[2] “Strategic Weapon Systems: Jane’s Sentinel Security Assessment – China and Northeast Asia,” IHS Jane’s, July 7, 2014, janes.https://ihs.com.

Name: KN-14
Other names: Hwasong-14, KN-08 Mod 2
Type: Ballistic
Length: 16.9 – 17.4m
Diameter: 1.8 – 2.0m
Payload: 300-700kg
Range: 10,000km
Status: Testing

Sources:
[1] “North Korea Tests a Fancy New Rocket Engine,” Arms Control Wonk, 9 April 2016, armscontrolwonk.com.
[2] “A Revised Assessment of the North Korean KN-08 ICBM,” Science and Global Security, 18 July 2013, scienceandglobalsecurity.org.
[3] “What’s Under the Hood,” 38 North, 22 December 2015, 38north.org.
[4] John Shilling, Jeffrey Lewis, David Schmerler, “A New ICBM for North Korea?”, 38 North, 22 December 2015, 38north.org.

Name: KN-08
Other names: Hwasong-13
Type: Ballistic
Length: 19.08 – 19.39m
Diameter: 1.8 – 2.0m
Payload: 300-700kg
Range: 11,500km
Status: Testing

Sources:
[1] “North Korea Tests a Fancy New Rocket Engine,” Arms Control Wonk, 9 April 2016, armscontrolwonk.com.
[2] “A Revised Assessment of the North Korean KN-08 ICBM,” Science and Global Security, 18 July 2013, scienceandglobalsecurity.org.
[3] “What’s Under the Hood,” 38 North, 22 December 2015, 38north.org.
[4] John Shilling, Jeffrey Lewis, David Schmerler, “A New ICBM for North Korea?”, 38 North, 22 December 2015, 38north.org.

Name: Hwasong-10 (Musudan)
Other names: BM-25, (Based on the Soviet R-27/SS-N-6)
Type: Ballistic
Length: 11.5m
Diameter: 1.5m
Payload: 500kg
Range: 3,500km
Status: Deployed

Sources:
[1] Norbert Brugge, “The North Korean “Musudan” missile is based on the Soviet R-27 SLBM,” B14643, www.b14643.de.
[2] “Ballistic Missile Defense Review Report,” Department of Defense, February 2010, defense.gov.
[3] “Strategic Weapon Systems: Jane’s Sentinel Security Assessment – China and Northeast Asia,” IHS Jane’s, July 7, 2014, janes.https://ihs.com.
[4] “Ballistic and Cruise Missile Threat,” National Air and Space Intelligence Center, 2013, fas.org.
[5] “Military and Security Developments Involving the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Department of Defense, 2015, defense.gov.

Name: Nodong
Other names: Rodong
Type: Ballistic
Length: 15.5-16.0m *variants
Diameter: 1.25-1.30m *variants
Payload: 250-700kg
Range: 1,300-1,500km
Status: Operational, exported

Sources:
[1] Norbert Brugge, “The North Korean Nodong Missile Family,” B14643, www.b14643.de.
[2] “No Dong 1,” Missile Threat, October 26, 2012, https://missilethreat.com.
[3] “Strategic Weapon Systems: Jane’s Sentinel Security Assessment – China and Northeast Asia,” IHS Jane’s, July 7, 2014, janes.https://ihs.com.
[4] Charles P. Vick, “Nodong,” Federation of American Scientists, May 12, 2014, https://fas.org.
Special thanks to Pavel Podvig, https://russianforces.org.

Name: Scud C MaRV
Other names: Unknown
Type: Ballistic
Length: 12.18 m
Diameter: 0.88m
Payload: Unknown
Range: 500 km
Status: Testing

Sources:
[1] James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
[2] Oliver Hotham, “North Korea announces test of “ultra-precision” ballistic missile”, NK News, 29 May 2017, www.nknew.org
[3] Ankit Panda, “North Korea Introduces a New ‘Ultra-Precision’ Scud Missile Variant: First Takeaways”, The Diplomat, 30 May 2017, thediplomat.com

 

Name: KN-02
Other names: SS-21 Scarab, 9K79 Tochka
Type: Ballistic
Length: 6.40 m
Diameter: 0.65 m
Payload: 250-500 kg
Range: 100-120 km, possible extended range variant
Status: Operational

Sources:
[1] “Strategic Weapon Systems: Jane Sentinel Security Assessment-China and Northeast Asia,” IHS Jane’s, July 7, 2014.
[2] Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., “The KN-02 SRBM,” KPA Journal, Vol. 1 NO. February 2, 2010, www.kpajournal.com.
[3] Jeffrey Lewis, “Don’t Know Where Waldo Went, But Kim Jong Un was in Wonsan: Geolocating North Korea’s June 26 and August 14 Missile Launches,” November 3, 2014, 38 North, https://38north.org.

Name: KN-11
Other names: Bukgeukseong-1, Polaris-1
Type: Submarine-launched balisstic missile (SLBM)
Length: ~9 m
Diameter: ~1.5 m
Payload: unknown
Range: 1,000 km +
Status: Testing

Sources:
[1] CNS analysis of images released by North Korean state media on web and television, www.kcna.kp.
See also: Jeffrey Lewis, “DPRK SLBM Test,” Arms Control Wonk, May 13, 2015, armscontrolwonk.com.

Name: KN-23
Other names:
Type: Short Range Ballistic Missile (SRBM)
Length: ~7.5 m
Diameter: ~0.9-1.0 m
Payload: Unknown
Range: ~450 km
Status: Testing

Sources:
Jeffrey Lewis, “Preliminary Analysis: KN-23 SRBM,” James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, June 5, 2019, www.nonproliferation.org.

Explore the Collection

Your are currently on

Stay Informed

Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest on nuclear and biological threats.

Sign Up




Glossary

Submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM)
SLBM: A ballistic missile that is carried on and launched from a submarine.

Close

My Resources