North Korea is making what could be its largest, most advanced warship ever
SEOUL — New satellite images show what could be North Korea's biggest warship ever – possibly more than double the size of anything in leader Kim Jong Un's naval fleet.
Images taken by independent satellite providers Maxar Technologies and Planet Labs on April 6 show the ship under construction in the water at the Nampo shipyard on North Korea's west coast, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) southwest of the capital Pyongyang.
Analysts say the pictures show ongoing construction of weapons and other internal systems of the ship, which is likely a guided-missile frigate (FFG) designed to carry missiles in vertical launch tubes for use against targets on land and sea.
'The FFG is approximately 140 meters (459 feet) long, making it the largest warship manufactured in North Korea,' an analysis by Joseph Bermudez Jr. and Jennifer Jun at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said.
For comparison, the US Navy's Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are about 505 feet long and its under-construction Constellation-class frigates will be 496 feet long.
The existence of the warship is not a surprise.The Kim regime has been engaged in a rapid modernization of its armed forces, developing a range of new weapons and testing intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach almost anywhere in the United States.It's done that despite United Nations sanctions that have puts strict limits on its access to the materials and technology to develop those weapons.But the closer ties with Russia since the beginning of the Ukraine war could be helping North Korea overcome that sanctions, analysts say.Kim Duk-ki, a retired South Korean admiral, said he thinks Moscow may be providing the technology for the frigate's missile systems.Pictures of the vessel appeared in a report by state-run Korean Central Television released late last year on the ruling Workers' Party's end-of-year plenary session. The images showed leader Kim inspecting the ship's construction.The images shown in the KCTV video show the warship could have the kind of weaponry possessed by modern navies, including vertical launch cells that could be used to fire a variety of missiles.Analysts also noted the ship seems to be set up to have phased-array radar, which can track threats and targets more quickly and accurately than previously displayed North Korean capabilities.Despite those indications of advanced warfighting abilities, analysts urged caution in making assumptions.Almost any shipbuilder can get the hull and propulsion systems right, said Carl Schuster, a former US Navy captain and Hawaii-based analyst.'However, modern warships represent an integration challenge of communications, electronics, weapons, and both electronic and acoustic sensor technologies' that is not so easily achieved, he said.In an interview with CNN in March, South Korean lawmaker Kim Byung-kee, a member of the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee, questioned whether Pyongyang has the technical ability to build an advanced warship, or the infrastructure to support it.'Operating such a big military warship takes significant amount of budget. They not only have to build a warship, but make a team that would operate it, and it costs to operate it including the equipment and fuel. Also, one huge warship cannot go out on its own. So the question is, can North Korea afford the cost?' he said.Kim, the retired South Korean admiral, was cautious on not underestimating what the final product may look like, especially its lethality.'If North Korea equips the new frigate with the hypersonic ballistic missile it claimed to have successfully tested in January, that will cause a game changing impact in the regional security,' the former naval officer said.After reviewing the satellite images for CNN, Schuster said it's likely a year or more of work remains before the new North Korean warship can begin sea trials.'This ship's construction is being delayed by the lack of the superstructure, sensor and weapons systems intended for installation,' he said.North Korea's navy has about 400 patrol combatants and 70 submarines, according to the most recent estimate from the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in a 2021 report.Though that's a large number of vessels, most of them are old and small.Joseph Dempsey, an analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, wrote in a January blog post that Pyongyang has only two principal surface combatants. Those Najin-class frigates – 1,600-ton warships dating to the early 1970s – are obsolete, he wrote.The DIA report said the North Korean navy would largely be reduced to coastal defense in any conflict with South Korea or the United States, both of which have vastly superior naval forces.But North Korean leader Kim has been pushing to modernize his naval fleet. It is also developing submarine-launched missiles and the subs to carry them.In September, Kim inspected the site for a new naval port.'Now that we are soon to possess large surface warships and submarines which cannot be anchored at the existing facilities for mooring warships, the construction of a naval base for running the latest large warships has become a pressing task,' he said at the time.Yu Yong-won, a South Korean lawmaker, said the ship under construction at the Nampo yard is only one example of Kim trying to modernize his navy.A nuclear-powered submarine is under construction at a shipyard in the North Korean port of Sinpo and another frigate or destroyer is in the works in Chongjin, Yu said. — CNN
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With NKorean Leader Furious over Failed Destroyer Launch, 4 Officials Have Been Detained
North Korea has detained four officials who it says are responsible for the failed launch of its second naval destroyer, which outside observers say was damaged much more than the country has disclosed. The detentions came after leader Kim Jong Un expressed fury over Wednesday's incident that he said was caused by criminal negligence. The main military committee said Friday that those responsible would be held accountable for their 'unpardonable criminal act.' Satellite imagery showed the vessel lying on its side and draped in blue covers, with parts of it submerged. North Korea says it will take about 10 days to repair the damage, but outside observers question that timeframe because they suspect the damage is much worse. Here is what you need to know about the failed ship launch: How much damage was there to the ship? The official Korean Central News Agency said Friday the severity of the damage to the 5,000-ton-class destroyer was 'not serious" as it canceled an earlier assessment that the bottom of the hull had been left with holes. According to The Associated Press, KCNA said the hull on the starboard side was scratched and some seawater had flown into the stern. It said it needs 10 days to pump out the seawater, set the ship upright and fix the scratches. KCNA said Monday that the work to restore the ship's balance was being conducted as scheduled. It's almost impossible to verify the assessment because of the extremely secretive nature of North Korea. It has a history of manipulating or covering up military-related setbacks, policy fiascoes and other mishaps, though it has periodically acknowledged some in recent years. 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Saudi Gazette
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North Korea arrests four over failed warship launch
SEOUL — North Korea has arrested four people it claims bear responsibility for a launch accident last week that left leader Kim Jong Un's newest warship lying on its side and partially submerged in a shipyard, state-run media has reported. The four people detained included Ri Hyong Son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, 'who was greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,' a report from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday said. On Sunday, KCNA said three others had been detained: Kang Jong Chol, chief engineer of the Chongjin Shipyard where the accident occurred, Han Kyong Hak, head of the hull construction workshop, and Kim Yong Hak, deputy manager for administrative affairs. Kim last week called the botched launch, which he witnessed, 'a criminal act' and vowed to punish those responsible. Last Wednesday's accident resulted from a malfunction in the launch mechanism that caused the stern of the as-yet unnamed 5,000-ton destroyer to slide prematurely into the water, crushing parts of the hull and leaving the bow stranded on the shipway, KCNA reported on Thursday in a rare admission of fault from an otherwise highly secretive state. State media reported on Friday that the damage to the warship was less than North Korea's initial estimate, saying there were no holes in the hull, although it was scratched along the starboard side. It also said 'a certain amount of seawater flowed into the stern section.'Repairs could take about 10 days, the report said. Though analysts are had ordered the destroyer to be restored before the late June plenary session of the ruling Workers' Party, calling the matter one of national imagery shows most of the warship covered in blue tarps at the launch site, making it difficult for experts to determine the full extent of the damage it analyst Carl Schuster, a former US Navy captain, said repair work could take up to six months, well beyond Kim's June target.'If the hull damage extends across the ship's port side covered by the tarp, then we are looking at four to six months of repair work,' he could be complicated depending on the amount of sea water that entered the warship, according to interior of the ship would need to be thoroughly flushed with fresh water and then dried to prevent 'salt crust' from forming on metal surfaces, he said.'If it gets into joints and things, then it becomes destructive,' Schuster the flushing work cannot begin until the ship is righted and any holes in the hull are patched, he reported Monday that 'the work for completely restoring the balance of the warship is being actively conducted,' but it did not give a images from Maxar Technologies taken Sunday and supplied to CNN showed the ship still on its side, still mostly covered in blue tarps as smaller boats swarmed around Korean lawmaker and defense analyst Yu Yong-weon said last week that rushing the launch of the ship likely led to the problems encountered on Wednesday and warned hasty repairs could cause more problems down the echoed that thinking, saying optics may be more important than military value to the Kim regime.'If Kim Jong Un says, 'I want that ship fitted out in six months,' they'll take shortcuts to make it happen. And usually when you do that you wind up with a ship that's not, shall we say optimal for operations? But it meets the propaganda criteria.' — CNN
