Andrea Berger over at RUSI has access to 500 pages of court transcripts relating to the prosecution of an arms dealer named Michael Ranger, who was convicted of brokering the sale of MANPADS in violation of arms embargoes on North Korea and Azerbaijan. The transcripts are filled with insights about DPRK arms sales. Andrea was …
The North Korean Missile Threat and Alliance Reassurance
by | 2016-02-13 | 2 Comments
The DPRK launched a small satellite using its latest SLV, the Kwangmyŏngsŏng. In response, the United States and its regional allies deployed missile defense systems to defend their population from the DPRK threat. One problem: the systems deployed had no hope of shooting down the DPRK rocket. Today’s podcast explores the politics of alliance reassurance …
Convoy Directions from the 816th Launch Brigade
by | 2016-02-12 | 5 Comments
A light yet wonky Friday post at the end of (another) heavy North Korea week… After my post last week on a special Spring Festival PLA Rocket Force training exercise, several colleagues helpfully pointed out where the training exercise might have occurred. I made a map last night illustrating the possible routes a convoy of …
Coming Simorgh Launch?
by | 2016-02-10 | 3 Comments
It seems Iran is going to launch a satellite into orbit soon, but the question is when. As I noted recently, Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan told the Majlis that Iran would conduct a space launch during the festivities to mark Iran’s revolution, which should run from 1-11 February. Other Iranian officials, however, have suggested that Iran …
