Kim Jong-un Building New Ballistic Missile Submarine
Kim Jong-un’s ‘aggressive’ bid to build his first ballistic missile submarine has been revealed in satellite images showing a new ‘pressure hull’ at a key military base.
Overhead pictures, taken just weeks ago, show construction work and increased activity at North Korea’s Sinpo South naval shipyard. The images could be an indication that Pyongyang is pursuing an ‘aggressive schedule’ to build its first operational ballistic missile submarine, according to the respected Washington-based 38 North institute, which monitors the secretive state.
‘The presence of what appear to be sections of a submarine’s pressure hull in the yard suggests the construction of a new submarine, possibly the SINPO-C ballistic missile submarine - the follow-on to the current SINPO-class experimental ballistic missile submarine,’ 38 North said of the November 5 pictures.
Its report said that throughout 2017 there had been a continued movement of parts and components into and out of two parts yards adjacent to the construction halls in the centre of the shipyard. It said the images showed two large circular objects that could be sections of a submarine’s pressure hull.
It said these appeared larger than those for North Korea’s ROMEOclass attack submarine.
Images of a test stand the indicated continued testing of a mechanism for the ejection launch of missiles from a submarine.
However, the report said no activity could be seen suggesting preparations for a new test of a submarine-launched missile.
North Korea has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the United States, sparking a major international crisis in which US President Donald Trump has said that all options are under consideration, including military ones. North Korea is also thought to be working on a solid-fuel missile for submarine launches.
Last month, The Diplomat magazine quoted a US government source as saying US military intelligence had detected a new diesel-electric submarine under construction at Sinpo and dubbed it the Sinpo-C.
It said the submarine was likely to be a larger successor to North Korea’s single experimental ballistic missile submarine.
North Korea has conducted dozens of missile tests this year and its largest and biggest nuclear test on September 3. The past two months have seen a relative lull and it has not tested a missile since firing one over Japan on September 15.
Another article in The Diplomat last month quoted a US government source as saying that North Korea had tested a new solid fuel engine sometime between October 15 and October 21. US intelligence officials have declined to comment on this.