| Is Missile: | yes |
| Hwasongpho-11Na, Hwasong-11Na | |
| Type: | Short-range ballistic missile |
| Engine: | Solid fuel rocket |
| Guidance: | Inertial navigation system (INS), possible satellite navigation |
| Accuracy: | 35 m[1] |
| Speed: | up to |
| Length: | 7.2 metres |
| Diameter: | 1.1 metres |
| Payload Capacity: | conventional, possibly nuclear |
| Design Date: | 2019 |
| Launch Platform: | tracked or 8×8 wheeled TEL[2] |
KN-24, officially the Hwasongpho-11Na (Hwasong-11 improved),[3] is a designation given to a North Korean single-stage, solid-fueled tactical ballistic missile.
The KN-24 bears an external resemblance to the American MGM-140 ATACMS and likely fills a similar role of supporting battlefield operations. Its aft-mounted aerodynamic fins are fixed rather than foldable like those on the ATACMS, requiring deployment from rectangular launch canisters. It flies in a "variable ballistic trajectory," flattening out at a lower altitude, below around, than traditional SRBMs like the Scud, where the atmosphere is dense enough, so the missile's fins can maintain aerodynamic control over its entire flight and dive toward the target.[4]
The use of INS updated with satellite-guidance data could make it accurate to within 100 meters CEP, or 200 meters using INS alone. Although the missile is outwardly similar to the ATACMS, it has demonstrated greater range, suggesting its physical dimensions are larger. It appears to share a common booster with the KN-23 and is estimated to carry a 400–500 kg payload with a unitary or submunition warhead. The KN-24 is likely to replace older liquid-fueled North Korean SRBMs, like the Hwasong-5 and Hwasong-6, as its non-parabolic trajectory makes it more survivable against missile defense systems, and its increased accuracy reduces the number of missiles that would be needed to destroy a single target.[5] [6] [7]
Despite their similarities to the ATACMS system, the KN-24 is significantly larger, and likely uses the same motor as the Pukkuksong-1 with similar jet vanes, and overall resembling a single stage version of it. The launch container has a width of about 1.26 m and a wheel diameter of 0.78 m, similar to the Pukkuksong-2 tracked TEL. A number of images shown of the system appears to be manipulated, significantly increasing the size of the launcher.[8]
With the missile fulfilling a similar role to the KN-23, there should have been no need to develop another missile later with an overlapping performance. In an analysis of news reports from the Korean Central News Agency, despite the differences the KN-23 possesses from the 9K720 Iskander, the KN-23 is likely to be constructed with foreign assistance or foreign parts.[9]
While all the news reports on the KN-23 mainly focused on the deployment, 'demonstration of power' and newness of it, reports on the KN-24 instead focused on the 'research' and 'development' in its first launch. Later launches of the KN-24 made mention of 'Juche weapons of Korean style', which is not mentioned at all for the KN-23, hinting that whereas the KN-24 underwent a research and development phase, the KN-23 was already deployed prior to being tested, and likely having foreign involvement in some form.[10]
In the 'Self-Defence 2021' military exhibition, a beige coloured KN-24 was shown, and revealed the official North Korean name of the missile to be Hwasongpho-11Na. Since 나(Na) is the second letter in the hangul alphabetic order, called ganada order, it means this missile is an improved version or substitution of the Hwasong-11 missile.
The first KN-24 test firing occurred on 10 August 2019 near the eastern coastal city of Hamhung. Two missiles reached an apogee of 48 km and a range of, at a speed of .
On 16 August 2019, two missiles were launched from Tongchon, to an apogee of 30 km and a range of, demonstrating a depressed trajectory.
On 21 March 2020, two KN-24s were fired from Sonchon, to an apogee of 50 km and a range of 410 km, performing "pull-up maneuvers" in flight, and one supposedly striking a small 100 meter-long island.[5] [6]
On January 17, 2022, two KN-24s were fired from Sunan Airport in Pyongyang. The missiles flew 380 km and achieved an apogee of 42 km, with a maximum speed of Mach 5 (1.5 - 1.8 km/s). The test fire was conducted to check operational readiness and validate the build quality of mass produced KN-24's.
On February 15, 2024, one KN-24 was shot down in Ukraine, near Kyiv.[11]
On February 16, 2024, Ukrainian data showed 24 missiles of the KN-23 and KN-24 type being used by Russia, with overall low accuracy.[12]