Pyongyang has successfully tested ballistic missiles and, despite the formidable statements of the military-political leadership of the United States, South Korea and Japan, as well as the sanctions imposed by the UN, it is not going to stop there.
For North Korea, the missile program is an essential element of the national security strategy, since without it, the creation of nuclear weapons, which Pyongyang is constantly improving, is meaningless. Most Western experts think so.
Optional nuclear
Back in the early 2000s, the formula "nuclear program - missile program" appeared, which implies a close relationship of both directions. Ballistic missiles are not needed without nuclear filling, but a "non-peaceful atom" without missiles is useless under the current conditions.
However, not so long ago Tehran acquired a ballistic arsenal, and the military of the Islamic Republic has already managed to test new items in Syria. It should be noted that Iran deliberately abandoned its nuclear weapons, having concluded an international treaty in July 2015, according to which it stops military nuclear research. In response, the United States and the European Union are lifting the sanctions previously imposed through the UN Security Council. Now few people remember that two years ago Western experts argued: with the closure of the military nuclear program, Tehran will also curtail the missile program, but this did not happen. Moreover, more and more advanced systems are appearing in the Iranian arsenal. A ballistic missile with split warheads was tested.
For some reason, Western experts ignore the experience of the successful use of ballistic missiles during the conflict in Yemen. Of course, the Hawsites do not manufacture or develop "Scuds" on their own, but on their account they have new tactics for using such weapons.
Thus, missile weapons are becoming an essential component of the national security strategy of many countries. Even if these products do not carry nuclear warheads, they are capable of causing significant damage to the enemy, not only at the tactical, but also at the strategic level - for example, destroying critical infrastructure: dams, bridges, power plants and factories. Experience shows that even ultra-modern air defense and missile defense systems such as the American Patriot-PAC-3 systems are useless against missiles.
After The Tempest
Opinions that ballistic missiles were outdated sounded in the mid-90s, and after the defeat and occupation of Iraq in 2003, this thesis was supported by experts from the Pentagon. In scientific research on the wars of the future, it was argued that, against the background of high-precision weapons, operational-tactical and tactical missiles have lost their importance and have become rather a means of mass intimidation.
Such conclusions fully reflected the experience of the Pentagon acquired in Operation Desert Storm. At the start of the war, Baghdad had a huge arsenal of operational-tactical and tactical missiles, which were actively used during the Iran-Iraq war. But then they really turned out to be mainly a weapon of intimidation. The term "war of cities" even arose: Iraq launched missile strikes on large cities of Iran, and in response, the aircraft of the Islamic Republic bombed the enemy's megacities.
During the Gulf War, Baghdad did the same, responding to the coalition air force's raids by firing missiles at Israel. But they seemed to be timely detected and intercepted by Patriot air defense systems. The American anti-aircraft gunners missed only a few targets. The coalition air force found disguised Iraqi ballistic missile launchers in the desert and destroyed them.
However, in the mid-90s, a fiction book by the famous British writer Frederick Forsyth, The Fist of Allah, was published, the readers of which learned that the Patriots did not demonstrate such miraculous properties, just the vast majority of Iraqi missiles corny fell apart in the air. After all, these were products with an increased flight range, modified in an almost artisanal way. And the main target of the American air defense and missile defense systems was the fuel tanks of the collapsed Iraqi missiles.
After the book was published, journalists asked the Pentagon about the effectiveness of the Patriot systems. The US military department referred to the fact that "The Fist of Allah" is a work of fiction and the author has the right to fiction. But later, the memoirs of British SAS fighters appeared in print with confessions that the victory over the Iraqi missile program was the merit of the special forces, and not the Air Force. The coalition air group has never learned to pinpoint the location of mobile launchers. The main work fell on the SAS and SFOD-D car patrols. The special forces found and independently destroyed such targets, only occasionally calling for help from aviation.
In 2004, the Pentagon began to recognize the problems with the destruction of Iraqi missiles in 1991. At the same time, an updated model of the air defense system, the Patriot-PAC3, appeared, capable, as it was argued, much more efficiently intercepting ballistic targets. But even the recognition of the Pentagon and the facts revealed did not shake the confidence of world military experts in the opinion that ballistic missiles are no longer effective on the battlefield.
In the late 90s, another important postulate was added to such conclusions: since BRs are outdated, it means that they can only be created as a terrorist weapon. Accordingly, missiles make sense only when working in parallel on weapons of mass destruction.
The first new thesis was put forward by the American military department, supported by analytical agencies working with it. Such assessments can still be found in almost all reports of military structures of NATO countries and in UN reports.
It is clear that the tight coordination of missile programs and work on the creation of weapons of mass destruction allows Washington to exert pressure on many countries of the world. At one time, this became a good reason for an attack on Iraq. Everyone remembers the Collin Powell test tube, but they forget that the argument about the missile program and the corresponding arsenal of Baghdad was used to prove the work on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Later, in 2013, the presence of operational-tactical and tactical missiles in service with the Syrian army served as "direct evidence" that Bashar al-Assad was using chemical weapons. The logic was reinforced concrete. Since the Syrians have missiles, it means they are needed to deliver weapons of mass destruction. Assad allows them to be used. Therefore, it uses chemical weapons as well.
Old Rocket Horse
But while the leading countries convinced themselves that the time of ballistic missiles was over, events in the world spoke of something else. Although the Soviet Union withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in 1989, aid to Kabul continued. But not only weapons and ammunition went “beyond the river”. Several batteries of operational-tactical missiles were deployed on the border, which carried out launches in support of the Afghan army. The effectiveness of the missilemen's work turned out to be very high - it was their volleys that stopped the offensive of the Mujahideen several times.
During the first and second Chechen wars, the Russian army also used operational-tactical and tactical missile systems, which again proved their effectiveness. Later, in the battles in Donbass, tactical missiles were in demand by the Ukrainian security forces. And if we take the technical malfunctions of systems, the unpreparedness of the calculations, and the mistakes of the command out of the brackets, we can find several fairly indicative examples of the effectiveness of this weapon.
The USSR actively supplied missile systems to many countries, not only tactical "Points", but also long-range "Oka". However, now Russia is bound by the INF Treaty. But its place was successfully taken by North Korea, which launched the current missile revolution.
In the late 1980s, North Korea, Iraq, and South Africa had the most ambitious missile programs. In the 90s, the Iraqis were defeated and sanctioned. The South Africans curtailed their work of their own free will. North Korea was left alone. And already in the early 2010s, Pyongyang achieved excellent results.
Now experts, discussing the DPRK's nuclear program, are studying how effectively Kim Jong-un's "long arm" can throw a nuclear charge. At the same time, it is absolutely ignored that North Korean scientists have managed to radically improve the accuracy of their products, as well as build, adopt and master several types of missiles with different ranges. However, world-famous experts persist in telling that the North Korean program is a fiction. They say that Pyongyang does not have enough nuclear warheads for all the missiles.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon and the military leadership in Seoul recently admitted that North Korean missiles with conventional warheads completely cover the territory of South Korea: all important objects of the military, military-industrial and civilian infrastructure fall under the attacks. In the event of such an attack, the destruction would be very severe. It turns out that it is necessary to change the entire strategy on the Korean Peninsula - to move from containing "countless hordes of North Korean infantrymen", for which all previous years have been preparing, to repelling massive missile strikes.
It is not known exactly when exactly, but North Korea became an exporter of missile technology. In particular, according to available information, Tehran owes its successes in the national missile program to Pyongyang. The attacks of the Houthis on the airfields and bases of the coalition led by Saudi Arabia became a kind of test of the Iranian-Korean missiles. It is noteworthy that the Islamic Republic and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are creating a whole line of missiles of various ranges. And the stake is placed on the use of conventional - "conventional" warheads, and not equipped with weapons of mass destruction.
Now others, in particular Turkey, have taken care of their own missile programs. Pakistan is creating a serious missile force. It is possible that soon ballistic missiles will be actively engaged in Latin America.
According to the precepts of Nikita Sergeevich
The United States and its allies continue to impose the concept of missile weapons as a tool of terrorism, but its popularity in the world is growing rapidly. Why? The answer was given by Khrushchev in due time: this is a cheap weapon with great potential. Modern technologies have made it possible to radically improve accuracy, as well as to establish mass production. Experience shows that rockets remain difficult targets both in flight and on the ground.
Already now, the DPRK and Iran, like the USSR under Khrushchev, are considering the missile troops as a kind of replacement for aviation and artillery units and subunits. It is clear that the air forces of these states will not be able to oppose anything to the air forces of developed countries, and in this case, missiles become an excellent tool for solving strike missions.
We admit: the rocket revolution has begun in the world. It will lead to a revision of many military theories. And you can call the missile weapons terrorist as much as you like - the poor countries that are threatened are unlikely to give up their purchases and independent production.
