SCUD
Photo Source: Sandia National Lab

Sometimes so many searches are made on the About Facts Net site for a particular thing that I almost feel compelled to write about it, this is one of those times. I have been deluged for information on North Korea's new missile, the one that has caused all the trouble. North Korea is conducting missile tests on a missile, that we have been told, is capable of reaching the U.S. As we all know, this has upset the world powers to no end. Kim Jong II is the leader of North Korea, or at least he was when I wrote this article about two weeks ago. The reason I say this is that you never know what may happen in a couple of weeks on this crazy world of ours. Some newspapers from other countries are saying that good old Jong has now made the same mistake that Saddam made that caused the invasion, he has gotten weapons of mass destruction or at least the delivery system for them. Let's take a look at this missile and the other missiles in North Korea's arsenal.

The TD-2 might be able to reach Alaska if it was fitted with a very small payload. It is a missile that can be configured into either two stages or three stages. The maximum distance is obtainable when it is in three stage mode. Payloads vary anywhere from 100 to 1000 kg depending on the rockets configuration. The rocket is over 100 feet tall with all its stages and weighs anywhere from 80,000-85,000 pounds when it is fueled for takeoff. The rocket uses a solid rocket motor. There is an interesting fact that concerns the launch facilities, they are not designed for winter use. This casts serious doubt that they would be used for war and also might indicate that any invasion of North Korea, if there was one, would take place in the winter when these rockets couldn't be fired. Intelligence agencies are saying that Iran is receiving TD-2 engines from North Korea.

Do not think that the TD-2 is North Korea's most powerful missile? If you are worried about the range of this missile, then you will really be concerned about the range of the Taepodong 1. This missile is said to have a range of 9,320 miles. Yes you have heard me correctly, this missile can reach the east coast of the U.S. The launch of this missile was conducted by North Korea in August of 1998. It had been an attempt to launch a satellite which was initially denied by the Pentagon. The Pentagon changed their opinion about a month later saying that it hadn't detected the satellite, but upon examination of the data it realized that it was a satellite launch gone bad. The first stage of this rocket is a cluster of four Scud C rockets. You might remember the Scud as the rocket that was fired at Israel during the Iraqi War. The first stage is known as the No-Dong 1 IRBM. The second stage of this missile is a single Scud C and the third stage is believed to be a small solid state rocket engine. This missile is believed to be inaccurate even though it has long range.

The North Koreans also have the Rodong 2 missile. This missile has a range of slightly over 1200 miles and is capable of reaching anywhere in Japan. The Rodong 2 which is known as the Nodong 2 by South Korea is a single stage rocket. It is mobile and uses a liquid fuel. The original Rodong 1 had a range of only 620 miles. It is believed that the North Koreans switched from steel to aluminum and magnesium alloy to lighten the vehicle, which may have contributed greatly to its increase in range. It is believed that the vehicle can support a warhead of over one ton. North Korea has over 200 Rodong 1 missiles. The exact number of Rodong 2 missiles is unknown, but it is believed that the total of both missiles is about 450.

Last, but not least, is the Scud missile. This is the missile that seems to be all over the mid east. It seems that North Korea has been stockpiling these things and has over 600 of them ready to fly. These missiles are short range, but would have no trouble reaching South Korea. So where did these Scud missiles come from? Initially it is believed that Scud technology came from Egypt in the 1970s and North Korea just kept improving it. It is also believed that there may be at least one and maybe more unidentified missiles being tested. Unconfirmed reports state that there are about eight missile launching facilities in North Korea.

North Korea is a country where people are starving. The huge amount of money being spent on missile development could feed many people, maybe even the entire country. Will this country be able to keep up this spending without some sort of popular revolution? They have done so for quite some time now, but who knows? They have become a missile exporter with many of the missiles going to the troubled middle eastern countries. North Korea seems to pose a far greater threat to world peace and stability than Iran.