“US researchers have found, based on satellite images, that North Korea is significantly expanding a key plant for the production of ballistic missiles that Russia uses in the war against Ukraine. Source: Reuters Details: The facility, known as the February 11 plant, belongs to the Ryongsong Machinery Complex in the city of Hamhun on North Korea’s east coast.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
US researchers have found, based on satellite images, that North Korea is significantly expanding a key plant for the production of ballistic missiles that Russia uses in the war against Ukraine.
Source: Reuters
Details: The facility, known as the February 11 plant, belongs to the Ryongsong Machine Building Complex in the city of Hamhun on North Korea’s east coast. It is the only known manufacturer of solid-fuel ballistic missiles of the Hwasong-11 class, known in the West as KN-23.
Satellite images of the plant’s territory, taken by Planet Labs in early October, were studied by American researchers of the Center for Non-Proliferation Research named after James Martin (CNS). The new pictures show the construction of an additional assembly building and a residential facility for workers. The entrances to the underground facilities of the complex are also being updated.
According to CNS researcher Sam Lair, the new assembly building is 60-70% larger than the previous building, which may indicate an intention to significantly increase the plant’s production capacity. In addition, the access restrictions to the tunnels, which were previously blocked by the overhead crane, have been removed.
“We see this as a suggestion that they are significantly increasing or trying to increase the productivity of the plant,” Lair said.
Another CNS scientist, Michael Duitzman, suggests that the new structure in the satellite images may be a warehouse, but believes it is more likely a new missile assembly line.
South Korean researchers from SI Analytics, a satellite image processing company, also confirmed new construction at the plant.