US and Republic of Korea Air Force fighters
either airborne or on quick reaction ground alert,
ready to respond to any DPRK provocation.
However, this changed on March 3, 2003 when
two North Korean MiG-29s and two MiG-
23s surprised RC-135S 61-2663 some 150
miles (241km) off the coast of North Korea
during a series of DPRK short-range/tactical
missile tests. The RC-135S aborted its mission
when one of the MiGs locked onto the Cobra
Ball, and it landed uneventfully at Kadena.
Missile testing
North Korea’s first missile test facility was the
Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground, located
near Musudan-ri. Missiles launched from
Tonghae were almost exclusively prototypes or
early development examples and were named
after the local villages of No-dong, Taepo-
dong and Musudan. The
first DPRK launch took place
in April 1984 and there had
been a total of 117 launches
from multiple sites by early this
year. Tests up until 1998 were not
impressive – nearly a third were considered
failures, including a disastrous launch on August
31 of that year, which overflew Japan prior
to exploding. This led to a moratorium that
lasted until 2006, when Tonghae was converted
to a spaceport and developmental testing
transferred to Kittaeryong near Wonsan. Since
2012, DPRK space launches have relocated to
Sohae, with weapons-related missile launches
undertaken at sites throughout North Korea,
including Sinpo and Kusang. This indicates
that North Korea has shifted its missile launches
towards operational training of units with Scud-Bs and Cs, Scud ERs and Nodongs rather
than merely test and development. Moreover,
launches have increased not only in number
but in volume with multiple missiles fired
simultaneously, simulating operational launches
under combat conditions. Finally, the launches
have required less and less preparation time,
from a matter of days to under an hour.
These improvements in North Korea’s missile
programme have complicated US efforts to
have RC-135s in place to monitor the boost
and re-entry phases of individual launches.
Previously, satellites could detect long-lead
preparations for missile launches from Tonghae,
allowing the timely deployment of an RC-135S
Cobra Ball to monitor the eventual launch. With
the reduction in launch time to a matter of
minutes, the RC-135S must deploy to Kadena
AB for extended durations while flying daily
‘dawn patrol’ type missions. These allow
the aircraft to be on station should a launch
occur, but only the luckiest of flights result in
successful collection. With one Cobra Ball
deployed to Kadena and flying daily five to
eight-hour missions to capture a prospective
launch, the jet’s total flying time accrues
quickly and necessitates a return to Offutt
for 200-hour maintenance checks
(with nearly 30 hours used for the
transit flights alone). Another jet
must deploy prior to the original
aircraft’s return to cover any
potential launch window.
Other mission tasking stretches
the Cobra Ball fleet to its limit,
especially with a jet at Kadena
for any potential DPRK launch.
Russian missile tests from Plesetsk
or the Barents Sea require a Cobra Ball
operating from RAF Mildenhall for boost-phase
collection or from Eielson AFB for re-entry phase
collection – or both, as in the triple Russian
launch on October 12, 2016 of two sea-launched
ballistic missiles (SLBMs) and one ICBM. On
this occasion, RC-135S 61-2663 relocated
from Kadena AB to Eielson AFB (while 61-2662
operated from RAF Mildenhall), and ’663
promptly returned to Kadena for the October 14
launch of a DPRK Musudan missile! Missiles
launched by Iran and Pakistan are believed to
be monitored by an RC-135S deployed to Al
Udeid AB in Qatar, while launches by India are
Below: RC-135S 61-2663 on a visit to Kadena. This was the aircraft intercepted by two MiG-29s and two
MiG-23s off the coast of North Korea during a series of missile tests on March 3, 2003. The Cobra Ball
was forced to abort its mission. Author’s collection54 // JULY 2018 #364
DPRK missile launches, 2017
Date Type Category From RC-135S Comments
Feb 11 Polaris 2 MRBM Kusong 61-2663 First Polaris 2 solid-fuel launch
Mar 5 Scud ER MRBM Sohae 61-2663 Four simultaneous launches
Mar 21 Unknown Unknown Wonsan 61-2663 Exploded after launch
Apr 4 Hwasong 12 IRBM Sinpo 61-2663 Failed after 9 minutes of ight
Apr 15 Hwasong 12 IRBM Sinpo 61-2663 Exploded after launch
Apr 28 Hwasong 12 IRBM Pukchang unknown Exploded at launch
May 14 Hwasong 12 IRBM Pukchang 61-2662 Range could reach Guam; engine technology
suggests this was the rst stage of a proposed
multi-stage missile
May 21 Polaris 2 MRBM Lake
Yonpung61-2662 Second test of solid-fuel MRBM; ordered into
mass production
May 28 Scud-C SRBM Wonsan 61-2662 First successful test of MaRV
Jul 4 Hwasong 14 ICBM Panghyon 61-2662 First test of an ICBM
Jul 28 Hwasong 14 ICBM Mup’yong-ni 61-2662 Despite DPRK claims that the missile was
launched as a complete surprise, US sources
were fully aware of its location
Aug 25 Scud-B SRBM Kittaeryong 61-2662 Believed to be an update of the Scud-B with
MaRV; new US designation KN21
Aug 28 Hwasong 12 IRBM Pyongyang
IAPunknown* Third over ight of Japanese mainland, missile
broke up in ight
Sep 14 Hwasong 12 IRBM Pyongyang
IAPunknown* Fourth over ight of Japanese mainland; range
matched distance to Guam
Nov 28 Hwasong 15 ICBM Pyongsong 61-2663 First test of this new ICBM
* Both 61-2662 and 61-2663 were in position on this date. No details if one or both collected.
Key: ICBM - intercontinental ballistic missile. MRBM - medium-range ballistic missile. SRBM -
short-range ballistic missile. MaRV - manoeuvrable re-entry vehicle. IAP - international airport.year. Tests up until 1998 were notquickly and necessitates a return to Offutt
for 200-hour maintenance checks
(with nearly 30 hours used for the
transit flights alone). Another jet
must deploy prior to the original
aircraft’s return to cover any
potential launch window.the Cobra Ball fleet to its limit,
especially with a jet at Kadena
for any potential DPRK launch.
Russian missile tests from Plesetsk
or the Barents Sea require a Cobra Ball* Both 61-2662 and 61-2663 were in position on this date. No details if one or both collected.
Key: ICBM - intercontinental ballistic missile. MRBM - medium-range ballistic missile. SRBM -
short-range ballistic missile. MaRV - manoeuvrable re-entry vehicle. IAP - international airport.Right: Nose art on RC-135S 62-4128. The design features a ball representing Earth, a
purple trail with a star representing a missile, and a snake that represents a Cobra Ball
aircraft protecting the Earth. USAF/Delanie Stafford
RC/WC-135 missions
Korean
standoff