North Korean Ballistic Missile Models

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.