The launch of a ballistic missile on July 28th, with the range to hit cities on America's west coast, provided further chilling evidence of the speed at which North Korea is developing a capability that Donald Trump has declared it would never have. It followed a test of a similar Hwa-song-14 two-stage missile on July 4th. Both launches were on a lofted trajectory-the missile travelling more or less straight up rather than around the curve of the Earth. Based on the test's course and flight time, analysts believe the first missile would have had a normal-trajectory range of about 7,500km, while the second, which flew for 47 minutes and reached an altitude of 3,700km, would have had a range of up to 1o,oookm while carrying a warhead weighing up to 650kg.
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