IISS: North Korea’s ICBMs use RD-250 engines produced by Ukraine’s KB Yuzhnoye

In his report for International Institute for Strategic Studies, Michael Elleman concludes that North Korea probably acquired RD-250 engines from Ukraine’s KB Yuzhnoye to power its Hwasong-12, -14 ballistic missiles.

The existing RD-250 uses two combustion chambers powered by a single turbopump. The Hwasong series of missiles use a single combustion chamber engine. Elleman says Western experts had seen a single-chamber RD-250 on display in Ukraine. It is unlikely that North Korea has the expertise to modify the RD-250 on their own to produce a single-chamber version.