Pyongyang has once again surprised the world
On April 23, the North Korean Central Telegraph News Agency reported successful tests of a sea-launched ballistic missile. According to official data, they were carried out in order to test the operation of the underwater launch system at maximum depth, as well as to test the latest solid-propellant engines.
According to the agency, everything went well, which was confirmed by the photographs presented, capturing not only Kim Jong-un who was present at the tests, but even the exit of the missile from the mine of the submarine, the launch of its engine and flight to the target. However, experts immediately doubted that the launch was precisely from the submarine. In addition to ritual statements that this is another propaganda ploy of Pyongyang, a version was voiced according to which the rocket was launched from a special stand and while North Korea is only approaching the development of an underwater launch technology.
According to the photos presented, it cannot be categorically asserted that solid-propellant engines are installed on the tested rocket. Although, according to many experts, this version is supported by the characteristic thick smoke and color of the flame that accompanied the operation of the engine in flight.
Eun said - Eun did
A day later, official reports from representatives of the South Korean military department appeared, according to which the launch was made at 18.30 Seoul time from the waters of the Sea of Japan near the city of Sinpo in South Hamgen province.
According to the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Korea, the missile was launched from a Sinpo-class submarine with a displacement of about two thousand tons using the so-called cold start.
Seoul stressed that with a high degree of probability it was the submarine that was the carrier, and not an underwater stand or a specialized barge.
According to the Russian classification, "cold start" is a launch in which a rocket is ejected from a launcher due to the pressure created in a closed volume. We call it "mortar" and is the only solution that ensures the launch of missiles from submarines.
True, Seoul made a reservation that there is no talk of full-fledged tests. The rocket fell, flying only about 30 kilometers. And the world media hastened to call the launch unsuccessful with reference to the South Korean Ministry of Defense, although the DPRK announced only tests of the launcher itself and solid-propellant rocket engines.
If you look at it, Seoul, albeit reluctantly, nevertheless admitted the fact that Pyongyang successfully tested a ballistic missile with an underwater launch. She came out of the mine, the on-board systems worked normally, starting the solid-propellant engines. And the media out of habit wishful thinking.
It should be noted that the official photographs of the tests presented by the North Korean news agency for the first time "lit up" the Shinpo-class submarine shrouded in secrecy until that moment, which at one time gave rise to a lot of controversy among experts. According to the widespread version, the new diesel-electric boat, designed to replace the submarines of Project 633 (Romeo, according to NATO classification), previously supplied by the Soviet Union, is a creative development of the Russian Varshavyanka. But in the photographs presented, the North Korean diesel-electric submarine does not even come close to resembling a prototype. The Sinhpo clearly has a smaller displacement, but visually it resembles more the submarines of the Son Won-2 series - German Project 214 submarines built for the South Korean Navy at the Daewoo Corporation shipyards.
And the most important question: how many ballistic missile launchers have the North Korean shipbuilders managed to place in a fairly compact Sinpo?
Bet on solid
A week before the sea launch, the DPRK unsuccessfully tested the Musudan ground-based ballistic missile. True, the official Pyongyang did not report this. And the South Korean military said the launch on April 15, Kim Il Sung's 104th birthday, was unsuccessful. This was also confirmed by the Pentagon. But the annoying hitch did not diminish the DPRK's determination to continue its missile program, which is not only important for the country's defense capability, but also brings tangible financial and material dividends to the isolated country.
With all the remaining doubts, it is already clear that North Korean developers were able to make a breakthrough and master critical technologies. In particular, despite the fact that the rocket flew only 30 kilometers, its creators have designed a workable control system, even if its fine-tuning will take some time. If earlier Pyongyang mainly used liquid-propellant rocket engines, primarily due to the well-known difficulties with the development, and most importantly, the production of both the solid fuel itself and the fuel charge (briquette) itself, now North Korea has been able to create this technology. Shortly before the historic ballistic missile launch, official North Korean news agency photographs of Kim Jong-un in his study showed blueprints for a supposedly new naval missile, where solid-propellant engines were clearly visible in the structure.
The turbojet engines will undoubtedly find their place not only in sea, but also in land-based BR. Of course, this will lead to an increase in the cost of the design of products, but will increase their technical and operational reliability, which is so lacking in North Korean rockets with liquid propellant engines.
Many experts call Pyongyang's achievements "clumsy", but for the declared parameters of a new product - 300 kilometers of flight range - there are enough such developments in abundance. Moreover, the sea launch makes the new missile a very serious threat, which will require both missile defense systems and an anti-submarine warfare system.
Another important feature is that the launcher can be placed on board even relatively small diesel-electric submarines.
Who benefits
It is possible that the new North Korean product was created with the support of other countries interested in obtaining such weapons and technologies. One of the possible sponsors is Iran, which, although outdated, but large enough by the standards of the Middle East, has a submarine fleet. The novelty will undoubtedly be of interest to Pakistan, which also has submarines, the installation of ballistic missiles on which will significantly increase their combat potential.
