Hwasong-18

The Hwasong-18 is a North Korean three-stage solid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It is the first solid-fuelled ICBM developed by North Korea, and was first unveiled at the 8 February 2023 parade commemorating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army. Its maiden flight occurred on 13 April 2023.

History
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un first alluded to the development of a solid-fuel ICBM in January 2021 when it was included as part of a five-year arms development plan. A static ground test of a large solid-propellant rocket motor was conducted on 15 December 2022 which produced a thrust of 140 metric tons of force. Four 9-axle mobile launchers carrying what appeared to be solid-fuel ICBM models were showcased on the 8 February 2023 parade marking the 75th anniversary of the Korean People's Army. They were carried in canisters to fire the missiles by cold launch to eject them before first-stage ignition to protect the launcher from damage by the exhaust plume. These models were not named in the parade, but they were clearly of a different design than the previous large Pukguksong-5 solid-fueled SLBM.

The Hwasong-18 conducted its first flight test on 13 April 2023. The first stage followed a standard trajectory optimized for reaching maximum range, but the second and third stages pulled up into a highly-lofted trajectory; this unusual flight path caused Japan to issue a missile alarm, as during the first stage burn it appeared that the missile could overfly the country. The use of solid fuel makes an ICBM launch more difficult to preempt than previous liquid-fueled missiles, as it does not require hours of fueling and is easier to conceal since it does not require as many accompanying support vehicles. A second flight test was conducted on 23 July 2023. North Korean media reported that the missile flew to a range of 1,001.2 km at a maximum altitude of 6,648.4 km for 4,491 seconds (74.85 minutes), giving it the longest flight time and highest apogee of any North Korean ICBM flight to date. Based on these metrics, the Hwasong-18 demonstrated its potential to travel 15,000 km on an operational trajectory, enough to reach anywhere in the continental United States. The third launch occurred on 18 December 2023. A third consecutive successful launch and North Korea's characterization of it as the "launching drill of an ICBM unit" likely indicated that the Hwasong-18 had become operationally deployed.

The first two stages of the Hwasong-18 serve as the basis for the Hwasong-16b intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), which was first tested in January 2024.