Defense News: DTN News - JAPAN DEFENSE NEWS: Images Show North Korea Launch Work
*Satellite images show N Korea deploying radar, dumping empty fuel tanks
*Japan orders interception of North Korean Missile - JMSDF transport vessel with PAC-3 Missiles sails from Western Japan to intercept North Korean missile
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources AP
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 2, 2012: New satellite images of a North Korean rocket launch site show a mobile radar trailer and rows of what appear to be empty fuel and oxidiser tanks, evidence of ramped-up preparation for what Washington calls a cover for a long-range missile test.
An analysis of images provided yesterday by the United States-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies shows Pyongyang "has undertaken more extensive preparations for its planned April rocket launch than previously understood".
The images, which are from commercial satellite photography company Digital Globe, were taken last Wednesday.
A mobile radar trailer essential for any launch stands at the end of a new dirt road running from the entrance of the Tongchang-ri site.
The trailer has a dish antenna that is probably a radar tracking system, according to the institute's analysis. Radar tracking during a launch gives engineers crucial real-time information on the performance of the rocket's engines, guidance system and other details.
The images also show what are likely to be empty fuel and oxidiser tanks in previously vacant, fenced-in areas.
"The tanks were apparently dumped in these locations after their contents were transferred to buildings that will directly fuel the first stage of the Unha-3 rocket," according to the analysis.
"The large number of apparently empty tanks indicates that the transfer process may have been close to completion."
Pyongyang has said that the launch, set for sometime between April 12 and 16, will fire a satellite into orbit to study the country's crops and natural resources.
It is also meant to honour one of the country's most important days, the centennial of the April 15 birth of national founder and former President Kim Il Sung.
Washington, however, says North Korea uses such launches to test missile systems for nuclear weapons that could target the US.
The announcement of the launch came just two weeks after the US-North Korean nuclear-freeze-for-aid agreement, which had buoyed hopes for improved relations between the wartime enemies under new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
North Korea's ruling party announced yesterday that it will hold an important political conference on April 11 in Pyongyang.
Mr Kim is expected to gain new titles at the conference. AP
*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources AP
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS
*Satellite images show N Korea deploying radar, dumping empty fuel tanks
*Japan orders interception of North Korean Missile - JMSDF transport vessel with PAC-3 Missiles sails from Western Japan to intercept North Korean missile
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources AP(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 2, 2012: New satellite images of a North Korean rocket launch site show a mobile radar trailer and rows of what appear to be empty fuel and oxidiser tanks, evidence of ramped-up preparation for what Washington calls a cover for a long-range missile test.
The images, which are from commercial satellite photography company Digital Globe, were taken last Wednesday.
A mobile radar trailer essential for any launch stands at the end of a new dirt road running from the entrance of the Tongchang-ri site.
The trailer has a dish antenna that is probably a radar tracking system, according to the institute's analysis. Radar tracking during a launch gives engineers crucial real-time information on the performance of the rocket's engines, guidance system and other details.
The images also show what are likely to be empty fuel and oxidiser tanks in previously vacant, fenced-in areas.
"The large number of apparently empty tanks indicates that the transfer process may have been close to completion."
Pyongyang has said that the launch, set for sometime between April 12 and 16, will fire a satellite into orbit to study the country's crops and natural resources.
It is also meant to honour one of the country's most important days, the centennial of the April 15 birth of national founder and former President Kim Il Sung.
Washington, however, says North Korea uses such launches to test missile systems for nuclear weapons that could target the US.
The announcement of the launch came just two weeks after the US-North Korean nuclear-freeze-for-aid agreement, which had buoyed hopes for improved relations between the wartime enemies under new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
North Korea's ruling party announced yesterday that it will hold an important political conference on April 11 in Pyongyang.
Mr Kim is expected to gain new titles at the conference. AP
*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources AP
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS
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