On Sunday, August 25, 2019, North Korea has announced the test of a new rocket launcher system able to fire short-range ballistic missiles. The North's official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, said that Saturday's weapons test was successful.
The new North Korean MLRS Multiple Launch Rocket Systems seems to be able to fire a short-range ballistic missile. (Picture source KCNA)
South Korea's military said North Korea fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Saturday, August 24, 2019, and that they flew about 380 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 97 kilometers. It was the seventh known weapons test by North Korea in about a month.
Pictures of the launch indicate the test was of a different system to that tested last week, showing a new large-caliber multiple rocket launch system which also appears to be in a different configuration from another MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) tested in early August.
The firing test was conducted from a military airfield at Sondok about three kilometers from the coast, images show, confirming Saturday morning’s report on the location from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The new North Korean MLRS is based on 8x8 wheeled truck chassis with an armor crew cabin and the missile launcher system mounted at the rear. Four paired missiles container-launchers are mounted to the rear of the truck chassis. In the firing position, the missiles containers are placed at the vertical to the rear side of the trailer.
