North Korea has unveiled for the first time a nuclear unmanned submarine attack craft that can carry a nuclear warhead.
North Korea conducted a series of military training activities from 21 to 23, including tests of new underwater attack weapon systems, using a nuclear unmanned submarine attack craft called "Tsunami," KCNA reported on March 24.
North Korea has unveiled its first nuclear unmanned submarine attack craft, and judging by the photos released by North Korea, the size of the attack boat is larger than a heavy torpedo with a diameter of 533 millimeters.
Can attack enemy ports to "set off a tsunami"
KCNA said that the test was carried out off the coast of Iwon-gun, South Hamgyong Province, North Korea, and submerged for 59 hours and 12 minutes at a depth of 80 meters to 150 meters along the elliptical and figure-eight route set in the East China Sea, and on the afternoon of March 23, it reached the target point in the waters of Hongwon Bay in the imaginary enemy's harbor to test the underwater explosion of the warhead. All tactical technical data and navigational technical indicators of a nuclear unmanned submarine attack craft are correctly evaluated, their reliability and safety are verified, and their strike capabilities are demonstrated.
According to the report, the mission of submersible nuclear strategic weapons is to covertly dive into operational waters, carry out underwater explosions to cause ultra-powerful radioactive tsunamis, and destroy the enemy's warship formations and main operational ports.
Naval expert Li Jie said in an interview with The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) that judging from the statements of North Korea's official media, North Korea's nuclear unmanned submarine attack craft is an underwater combat weapon similar to Russia's "Poseidon" unmanned submarine, both of which can carry nuclear warheads for nuclear strikes or nuclear deterrence, which are strategic weapons.
"But Russia's Poseidon unmanned underwater vehicle is nuclear-powered, and North Korea's conventional power is more likely." Li Jie said.
In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced some new weapons that Russia was developing at that time in his State of the Union address, including the "Sarmat" missile system, nuclear-powered unmanned underwater vehicle, "Swift" nuclear-powered cruise missile, etc., and the nuclear-powered unmanned underwater vehicle was named "Poseidon" after the Russian people's online vote.
Russia's "Izvestia" previously reported that Alexander Mikhailov, head of the Russian military-political analysis bureau, said that "Poseidon" can travel at a speed of up to 200 kilometers per hour at 1,000 meters underwater, and can carry conventional warheads or nuclear warheads with a TNT equivalent of 2 million tons.
The analysis pointed out that once the Poseidon nuclear-powered unmanned underwater vehicle explodes near the enemy's coast, it can trigger a tsunami impact 500 meters high and 550 kilometers wide, which can not only completely destroy the enemy naval base, but also destroy coastal cities.
The "Poseidon" nuclear-powered unmanned underwater vehicle is mainly equipped with the special nuclear submarines of the Russian Navy, and at present, the Russian "Belgorod" and "Khabarovsk" special nuclear submarines have been launched. According to Russia's "Izvestia" reported on February 20, the Russian Navy is building infrastructure for the Belgorod nuclear submarine capable of carrying the Poseidon nuclear-powered unmanned submarine in Kamchatka.
According to KCNA, North Korea began to develop a submersible nuclear strategic attack weapon system with a new operational concept in 2012, and the secret weapon was named "Nuclear Unmanned Submersible Attack Boat 'Tsunami'" at the Eighth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea, after which it passed more than 50 final stage tests in different forms, and the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers' Party held last December decided to deploy for operation.
Nuclear unmanned submarine attack boats are mainly used to attack enemy warship formations and main operational ports.
"Or it can hit the US military base in Guam"
The first public disclosure of the Tsunami nuclear unmanned submarine has also made the development of North Korea's sea-based nuclear forces a topic of discussion.
According to the Russian Satellite News Agency, Kim Dong Yeop, an associate professor at South Korea's "Chosun Graduate University", believes that according to the parameters announced by North Korea, this new weapon may directly hit the bases of the US military in Japan and Guam. Experts are not sure of the credibility of North Korea's announcement, but given that unmanned underwater weapons are an area that countries around the world are currently competing to develop, and a large part of the research and development systems will be realized, it is difficult to underestimate North Korea's claims.
According to the analysis of photos released by North Korea, Li Jie believes that the diameter of the "Tsunami" nuclear unmanned submarine attack boat exceeds the common diameter of heavy torpedoes (533 mm), so for the concealment of deployment, the attack boat is likely to be deployed in the hole near the sea, put into the water to stealthily drive out of the hole during the operation, and in order to enhance survivability, North Korea may also build multiple cave reservoirs, some deploying attack boats, some not deploying.
The emergence of the Tsunami nuclear unmanned submarine will clearly increase the means of strike by North Korea's sea-based nuclear forces, which has previously publicly tested submarine-launched ballistic missiles and submarine-launched strategic cruise missiles.
Ballistic missiles have the advantages of fast flight speed and strong penetration capability, and nuclear powers have generally created sea-based nuclear forces with nuclear submarines and submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Although North Korea does not currently have nuclear submarines, it is still building a sea-based nuclear force model with conventional submarines and submarine-launched ballistic missiles in light of its own actual situation. In May 2015, North Korea's first submarine-launched ballistic missile "Polaris"-1 was successfully tested; In December 2019, North Korea successfully conducted a test launch of a new submarine-launched ballistic missile, the Polaris-3; In October 2021, North Korean submarines successfully tested a new submarine-launched ballistic missile. In addition, North Korea has publicly displayed two submarine-launched ballistic missiles, the Polaris-4/5.
Nuclear unmanned submarine attack boats sail underwater and can improve concealment with the help of seawater.
In terms of submarine-launched strategic cruise missiles, on March 12, North Korea disclosed the existence of submarine-launched strategic cruise missiles for the first time. According to a report by the Korean Central News Agency, the North Korean submarine "24 August Hero Ship" launched two strategic cruise missiles on the same day, and the missiles flew 1,500 kilometers. According to the report, the launch training confirmed the reliability of the weapon system and tested and judged another important component of North Korea's nuclear deterrent power - the submarine-to-ground attack combat posture.
Missile expert Li Wensheng previously said in an interview with The Paper that "long-range cruise missiles mainly fly at low altitudes, with strong concealment, and can avoid some air defense positions through route planning, and also have strong penetration capabilities, while ballistic missiles fly at high altitude or outside the atmosphere, the two can cooperate with each other, one high and one low, to improve the success rate of strikes." ”
Compared with ballistic and cruise missiles, nuclear unmanned submarine attack vehicles sail underwater, with the help of seawater to improve concealment, and the size of nuclear unmanned submarine attack vehicles is much smaller than that of submarines carrying missiles, and it is difficult for existing anti-submarine systems to effectively deal with such weapons.
"From ballistic missiles to cruise missiles and now nuclear unmanned submarine attack craft, the weapons of North Korea's sea-based nuclear forces have shown a trend of diversified development, and the purpose of North Korea is to enhance the reliability of sea-based nuclear forces operations and deterrence." Li Jie added an analysis that "North Korea said that the weapon can also be used to attack enemy ship formations, and the biggest threat to North Korea is the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier group, which is also a means that the United States often uses to deter North Korea, so nuclear unmanned submarine attack craft will become the core weapon of North Korea to counter US aircraft carriers." ”
Editor-in-chief: Zhang Wu Text editor: Song Hui Title image source: IC photo Photo editor: Cao Liyuan
Source: Author: The Paper