KN-24

The KN-24 bears an external resemblance to the American MGM-140 ATACMS and likely fills a similar role of supporting battlefield operations. One difference is that its aft-mounted aerodynamic fins are fixed rather than foldable like those on the ATACMS, requiring deployment from rectangular launch canisters. It flies in a "variable ballistic trajectory," flattening out at a lower altitude (below around 50 km (160,000 ft)) than traditional SRBMs like the Scud where the atmosphere is dense enough so the missile's fins can maintain aerodynamic control over its entire flight and dive toward the target. Use of INS updated with satellite-guidance data could make it accurate to within 100 meters CEP, or 200 meters using INS alone. Although the missile is outwardly similar to the ATACMS, it has demonstrated greater range, suggesting its physical dimensions are larger; it appears to share a common booster with the KN-23 and is estimated to carry a 400-500 kg payload with a unitary or submunition warhead. The KN-24 is likely to replace older liquid-fueled North Korean SRBMs like the Hwasong-5 and Hwasong-6, as its non-parabolic trajectory makes it more survivable against missile defense systems and its increased accuracy reduces the number of missiles that would be needed to destroy a single target.[1][2][3]

The first KN-24 test firing occurred on 10 August 2019 near the eastern coastal city of Hamhung, with two missiles reaching an apogee of 48 km and a range of 400 km (250 mi) at a speed of 2.1 km/s (7,600 km/h; 4,700 mph). Six days later, two more missiles were launched from Tongchon to an apogee of 30 km and a range of 230 km (140 mi), demonstrating a depressed trajectory. On 21 March 2020, two more KN-24s were fired from Sonchon to an apogee of 50 km and a range of 410 km, performing "pull-up maneuvers" in flight and one supposedly striking a small 100 meter-long island.[1][2]

In a parade held on 15 January 2021, a new SRBM was displayed. It appeared to be a larger version of the KN-24, as well as longer than the KN-23, mounted in pairs on a wheeled five-axle transporter erector launcher (TEL).[4] The larger size requiring a bigger launcher likely indicates increased range of several hundred kilometers over the previous missile. There were no external aerodynamic surfaces or fins, suggesting it flies on a standard ballistic trajectory rather than on a flattened trajectory with terminal maneuverability like the proceeding KN-24.[5]

• MGM-140 ATACMS
• KTSSM
• KN-23