North Korea appears to have tested sub-launched missile

Post Reply New Topic

North Korea appears to have carried out a test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile last month, South Korean media reports said, but the South Korean military told Reuters it could not confirm the test.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency cited an unnamed South Korean government official as saying Pyongyang appeared to have conducted an ejection test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) in December, following a reported failure of such a test in November.

A South Korean military official told Reuters that North Korea continued to developed submarine-launched missile capability but expects it will take a substantial period of time for it to be able to successfully deploy such a weapon

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-north ... 2P20160106

Seems like they're working it all out and being relatively successful at it, with the Sinpo-class being the launch vehicle (or from a towed underwater sled), a R-27/29 derived ballistic missile, and the testing of warheads on land, all going on concurrently.

Subs are generally the best way to keep your force from being taken out via first strike, albeit it's quite technologically challenging.

Of course, the Sinpo-class has short flippers, and it's really a coastal boat, but it'd be quiet and hard to detect, and it'd allow for retaliatory or first strikes against Worst Korea or US bases in that area (Japan, for example). Armament is limited by most sources, with perhaps no more than 2 missiles carried. A large buildup of these or improved vessels would be an ominous sign, really.

They seem their work cut out of them to make a true SLBM boat