SEOUL, February 15. /TASS/. A special military unit armed with solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missiles was created in the DPRK. Its banner was seen on military equipment during the parade on the occasion of the anniversary of the country’s armed forces, the Yonhap news agency said on Wednesday.
In a recorded video of the parade, four new banners of missile units were identified. One of them was on a mobile launcher with, presumably, solid propellant rockets. This red-and-gold flag features a black rocket rising into the air.
Yonhap says it is likely that a test launch of a solid propellant rocket has not been carried out yet, but the unit has been created. Experts speculate that the DPRK authorities could verify the missile's performance using a cold launch.
"There is a possibility that the characteristics of the missile were tested by means of a cold launch without the ignition of the rocket engine, using a technique similar to that of solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missiles," said Shin Jong-woo, the Secretary-General of the Korea Defense and Security Forum.
He also speculated that a solid-propellant missile could have been developed on the basis of the Pukkykson-2 medium-range missile. Some experts do not exclude that only a prototype or model of such a weapon was shown at the parade. There have been speculations that a solid propellant rocket would be tested in the future.
Among the remaining three new banners there was the symbol of the Hwaseong-17 missile unit. It showed 2022.11 - probably the date of the successful test. In addition, the viewers saw what is believed to be the flag of a long-range cruise missile unit and the General Missile Bureau.