A North Korean Missile Already Supplied to Russia Just Got a Much Longer Reach

North Korea launched a KN-30 ballistic missile more than 910 kilometers during an October 12 test, demonstrating substantially greater range than in the weapon’s earliest known trials.

The same missile type has previously been transferred to Russia and could potentially be used in strikes against Ukraine, according to Militarnyi on October 14.

North Korea’s state-run KCNA released images from the launch but did not publicly identify the missile or disclose its range.

Based on photographs of the five-axle mobile launcher, the secretary general of the Korea Defense and Security Forum identified the weapon as the Hwasong-11Da-2.5, also known in Western reporting as the KN-30.

The KN-30 is a solid-fueled short-range ballistic missile and an enlarged member of North Korea’s Hwasong-11 family. Pyongyang has claimed that the weapon can carry a 2.5-ton warhead, although that figure has not been independently confirmed.

At least two ballistic missiles were launched toward the Sea of Japan on October 12. Japan’s Defense Ministry said one traveled roughly 220 kilometers, while the second flew more than 910 kilometers and reached an altitude of about 70 kilometers.

KCNA said the test was intended to verify improvements made to key components of the missile system. North Korea did not specify which components had been upgraded, leaving open the question of whether the longer flight reflected changes to propulsion, guidance, payload configuration, or another part of the weapon.

The reported 910-kilometer flight is particularly notable compared with earlier KN-30 tests. When North Korea first tested the missile in March 2021, Pyongyang claimed a range of 600 kilometers, while Japanese and South Korean military assessments placed the actual distance at roughly 420 to 450 kilometers.

The KN-30 was first publicly displayed during a military parade in Pyongyang on January 14, 2021. It is launched from a mobile transporter on a five-axle wheeled chassis and uses a solid-fuel motor, allowing it to be prepared and fired more quickly than liquid-fueled ballistic missiles.

Russia has already received KN-30 missiles from North Korea. Their presence in Russian stocks has raised concern that Moscow could add the weapon to the growing inventory of North Korean ballistic missiles used or available for strikes against Ukraine.

Earlier, reports emerged that more than 50% of the identified electronic components in North Korean Hwasong-11 (KN-23) ballistic missiles recovered in Ukraine were found to be fake.

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