A tiny detail from North Korea’s missile launch points to an even more dangerous threat (Source Business Insider) North Korea demonstrated its ability to reach the continental US with a nuclear-capable ballistic missile on July 4, but close analysis of launch footage may point to another dangerous technological development. Unlike other North Korean missiles, the intercontinental-range Hwasong-14 missile uses a “shroud,” or a hollow cover instead of a more solid nosecone, researchers have discovered. ICBMs generally use shrouds if one is “planning on launching multiple reentry vehicles or added countermeasures,” David Schmerler, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies told Business Insider. Shrouds usually indicate that a missile has multiple, independent reentry vehicles for a payload, according to Schermler. A missile with multiple nuclear warheads can not only do more damage to its target, but also pose a greater challenge for missile defenses. While Schmerler said there is “no indication” that North Korea has developed technology to miniaturize warheads such that it could fit multiple nukes in a single missile, it could have installed countermeasures in the shroud that would render US defenses all but useless.