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| A UGM-96 Trident SLBM (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons) |
By Ankit Panda
Evidence from satellite imagery suggests that North Korea is actively developing sea-based ballistic missiles.
According to a new report from 38 North, the blog of the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), North Korea could be developing a sea-based or submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) capability. 38 North bases its claims, as usual, on commercial satellite imagery analysis, which identifies a “new test stand at the North’s Sinpo South Shipyard, probably intended to explore the possibility of launching ballistic missiles from submarines or of a shipboard vertical launch ballistic missile capability.” Nothing in the report or information available on North Korea’s weapons development programs suggests that the country is anywhere close to fielding this capability in the near-term, but it nonetheless will add to South Korean and U.S. concerns about North Korea’s future plans.
Based on satellite imagery, the author of the 38 North report, Joseph S. Bermudez Jr.,identifies a naval shipyard and research center with a test stand that meets the size and dimension requirements for sea-based missile testing — specifically, emulating a submarine or surface ship launch tube. The 38 North report is in line with reports based on U.S. intelligence findings that North Korea is looking into SLBMs. Earlier this year, Bill Gertz at the Washington Free Beacon reported that “a missile launch tube on a North Korean submarine was observed recently by U.S. intelligence agencies.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat