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North Korea is showing off its most modern surface combat ship, an Amnok-class corvette armed with strategic cruise missiles equipped with nuclear warheads. Photo/KCNA/The War Zone
PYONGYANG – North Korea showed off its most modern surface combat ship, the Amnok class corvette. The largest corvette operated by the Korean People’s Navy, it is armed with strategic cruise missiles equipped with nuclear warheads.
North Korean state media KCNA released the clearest photo of Patrol Boat No. 661 and demonstrated a cruise missile firing test. It was not explained when the firing test was carried out, but the figure of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un who witnessed the activity firsthand was shown.
According to KCNA, Kim Jong Un supervised a missile test somewhere on North Korea’s east coast. Colin Zwirko of NK News, a US-based news website covering North Korea, has geolocated this location off the coast of Munchon, north of Wonsan.
The launch of the cruise missile is intended to verify the combat function of the ship and the features of its missile system. “This test is also to improve sailors’ ability to carry out attack missions in real war,” KCNA said, quoted by SINDOnews from The War Zone page, Wednesday (23/8/2023).
The Amnok corvette was built to fire a sea-launched version of the long-range nuclear-capable land attack cruise missile. The presence of the Amnok corvette adds a new platform to North Korea’s diverse and growing strategic arsenal.
KCNA described these particular weapons as “strategic cruise missiles,” capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The missiles were designated by KCNA as Hwasal-2, previously known in their ground-launched form, and are considered nuclear capable.
A submarine-launched version of the Hwasal-2 may also exist. A visual comparison between the ground-launched and ship-launched missiles shows that they are very similar.
Meanwhile, photos of the ship appear to show eight cruise missile launch tubes located behind the superstructure. The missiles are fired from inclined containers instead of using a vertical launch system (VLS).
