North Korean "Monster ICBM" Test. Why America and allies are worried?

North Korea Just Openly Tested Its First ICBM Since 2017 And It's A Monster The Hwasongpho-17 intercontinental ballistic missile is North Korea's largest and by every indication most capable to date. North Korea claims to have successfully test-launched a new "super-large" nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, called the Hwasongpho-17. This is North Korea's largest ICBM design to date and this test saw the missile reach an especially high altitude, with the country's authorities saying it reached a height of 6,248.5 kilometers, or nearly 3,882 miles, before falling into a part of the East Sea within Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone The launch, which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended, took place on Thursday, March 24, 2022 At least one Japanese F-15J Eagle fighter jet was scrambled in response to the launch, along with a P-3C Orion maritime patrol plane. The Japanese Ministry of Defense subsequently released a video Details about the Hwasongpho-17 itself are limited, but it appears to be derived from the earlier Hwasong-15 design and may be known within the U.S. military as the KN-28. The Hwasongpho-17 is believed to be a two-stage, liquid-fueled design with an estimated overall length of 26 meters, or just over 85 feet, and a diameter of 2.7 meters, or nearly 9 feet. Its size and design, at least from what can be seen outwardly, raise the possibility that it might be able to carry more than one nuclear warhead in a multiple independently-targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) configuration. one would imagine that it at least, if not more capable as the previous Hwasong-15, which can reach the United States, among other parts of the world. The missile, or at least a mockup thereof, first appeared publicly at a parade in 2020, along with its new 11-axle transporter-erector-launcher (TEL). Its name first emerged at a weapons expo in the North Korean capital Pyongyang last year. As a consequence of North Korea’s show of force, the South has also flexed its muscles, putting its most advanced aircraft, the F-35A in the parade. An Elephant Walk that included 28 out of 40 F-35A the ROKAF has received was widely advertised across the social networks with the slogan “Invisible power to protect South Korea” to show that South Korea’s military “will use the F-35A with all-weather stealth and precision strike capabilities to achieve overwhelming strategic victories and maintain a full military posture that will deter further North Korea’s actions”. Defense Minister Suh Wook oversaw the “Elephant Walk” training and ordered troops to maintain “full” readiness based on the “invisible power” of the F-35As, the defense ministry said. It did not disclose the training site for security reasons. The training marked the first major mobilization of the stealth fighters after the Air Force completed the deployment of 40 F-35As in January. “Using the F-35A stealth fighters, we should maintain a full readiness posture to achieve an overwhelming strategic victory (in any fight) and deter North Korea’s additional actions,” Suh was quoted as saying. During the training, heavily-armed F-35A fighters taxied in a large formation along an airfield to check their operational readiness, officials said.