Hwasong-10

Hwasong-10 is also known as Musudan (무수단; 舞水端), named after a village near where North Korea test-fires missile. The missile also has several external names, including BM-25, KN-07, Mirim and Nodong-B.

In the mid-1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, North Korea invited the Makeyev Design Bureau's ballistic missile designers and engineers to develop this missile, based on the R-27 Zyb. In 1992, a large contract between Korea Yon’gwang Trading Company and Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau of Miass, Russia was signed. The agreement stated that Russian engineers would go to the DPRK and assist in the development of the Zyb Space Launch Vehicle (SLV). Hwasong-10 was first revealed to the international community at a military parade on 10 October 2010 celebrating the Workers' Party of Korea's 65th anniversary, although experts believe these were mock-ups of the missile. In April 2013, North Korea was reported to deploy two Hwasong-10 missiles to Wonsan in preparation for a test-fire. Two moblie launchers were reported to continuously moved in and out of a facility. Four to five wheeled vehicles, appear to be TELs, were also spotted to travel around South Hamgyong Province. These actions aimed at making difficult to US and South Korea. A month later, North Korea removed two missiles from launchers. Since April 2016, the Hwasong-10 has been tested a number of times, with two apparent partial successes and a number of failures. In May 2017, North Korea successfully tested a new missile, the Hwasong-12, with a similar range to the Hwasong-10. It had been displayed in the April 2017 military parade on the Hwasong-10 mobile launcher, and the Hwasong-12 may be intended to replace the Hwasong-10 which has been shown unreliable during its test programme. In an interview for Difesa Online, a military-focused website, on 27 November 2017, German analyst Norbert Brügge claimed that Hwasong-10, along with Hwasong-13, was likely cancelled due to unresolved engine problems. The Hwasong-10 was not shown in the February 2018 military parade, suggesting that the design had not been deployed. However, in 2020, according to United States intelligence, Hwasong-10 was still classified as deployed.

An alleged, failed test of Hwasong-10 was detected at Kusong on 15 October 2016, at 12:03 pm local time. The US military identified the missile as Hwasong-10, without specifying details. North Korean state media kept silent on this report. Another alleged launch of Hwasong-10 launch took place on 20 October 2016 at 7:00 am local time, just hours before the start of the final 2016 US presidential election debate, but also failed. It is possible that the tests in October 2016 involved Hwasong-13 in both KN-08 and KN-14 variants, Hwasong-12, or Pukguksong-2. However, it is diffucult to exactly confirm the missile used in these tests, as North Korea did not release images about October 2016 launches.

North Korea: According to one source, more than 200; other source claims 12 deployed. 16 were seen at once during the 10 October 2010 military parade, although experts contacted by the Washington Post believed these were mock-ups of the missile. In 2020, according to United States intelligence, North Korea has fewer than 50 Hwasong-10 launchers.

Iran: 19, according to a leaked, classified U.S. State Department cable. The Khorramshahr, which was first publicly displayed on 22 September 2017, is likely derived from Hwasong-10.