If the paucity of North Korean Nodong MRBM tests prior to deployment doesn’t mean that it’s secretly an old Soviet weapon not seen previously, what does it mean? There are other explanations for a limited testing regime that don’t seem like quite so much of a reach. First, let’s consider that the North Koreans had …
Big Odd Myanmar Box
by | 2009-08-03 | 35 Comments
Over the past couple of days, I’ve been emailing with a couple of colleagues about this very odd building in Myanmar (nee Burma). Staring at that big box was the main reason I tweeted that “This Burma-NORK nuclear link has me worried.” Allen Thomson, Bruno Tertrais and some folks at VERTIC all found it too …
Prolif. Case Study: Iranian Furnace
by | 2009-08-03 | 13 Comments
click on the image for a larger version Closeup of the cylinder removed from an Iranian furnace. A while ago, I asked if anybody knew what the purpose of a furnace shown in an Iranian video covering the construction of the Safir-Omid space launcher was. Answering this question, as well understanding several other interesting scenes …
What Is North Korea Capable Of?
by | 2009-08-03 | 17 Comments
As regular readers know, there’s something of a dispute in the wonk world over the nature and origins of the North Korean missile program. Basically, it comes down to two issues: First, did a team of Russian scientists and engineers from the Makeyev design bureau in Miass help the North Koreans duplicate the SS-N-6 SLBM, …
