North Korea’s new submarine-launched missile raises threat of nuclear strike from the sea

State media reported that the weapon tested on Tuesday featured ‘flank mobility’ and ‘glide skip’, which can make a missile harder to track and intercept

Analysts say the SLBM appeared to be a smaller, thinner model, which could mean more missiles stored on a single submarine

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North Korea tests a new submarine-launched missile at an undisclosed location on Tuesday. Photo: KCNA/KNS via AFP

Published: 7:41am, 20 Oct 2021Updated: 11:22am, 20 Oct 2021

North Korea announced on Wednesday that it had tested a newly developed missile designed to be launched from a submarine, the first such weapons test in two years and one it says will bolster its military’s underwater operational capability – potentially slashing the time before US and allied forces in the region would need to be concerned about nuclear strikes from the sea.

The test on Tuesday was the fifth round of missile launches since September and came as North Korea steps up pressure on Washington and Seoul to abandon what Pyongyang sees as hostile polices such as joint US-South Korea military drills and international sanctions on the North.

North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the latest test “demonstrates the military muscle” of the state and “will greatly contribute to putting the defence technology of the country on a high level and to enhancing the underwater operational capability of our navy”.

It said the new missile has introduced advanced control guidance technologies including flank mobility and gliding skip mobility.

This combination of pictures shows a test firing of a new type submarine-launched ballistic missile in an undisclosed location in North Korea on Tuesday. Photo: KCNA/KNS via AFP

Analysts noted that photos released by KCNA appeared to show a thinner, smaller missile than North Korea’s earlier SLBM designs, and may be a previously unseen model first showcased at a defence exhibition in Pyongyang last week.

North Korea’s new submarine-launched missile raises threat of nuclear strike from the sea

State media reported that the weapon tested on Tuesday featured ‘flank mobility’ and ‘glide skip’, which can make a missile harder to track and intercept Analysts say the SLBM appeared to be a smaller, thinner model, which could mean more missiles stored on a single submarine

State media reported that the weapon tested on Tuesday featured ‘flank mobility’ and ‘glide skip’, which can make a missile harder to track and intercept

Analysts say the SLBM appeared to be a smaller, thinner model, which could mean more missiles stored on a single submarine