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| Russian Kh-35 missile (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons) |
By Ankit Panda
Just how deadly is North Korea’s new anti-ship missile?
North Korea tested an anti-ship missile on Sunday off its eastern coast. Prashanth covered the test in some detail on these pages, noting that the test “may signal Pyongyang’s growing capabilities.” This is certainly the case with almost any new asset North Korea adds to its aging repertoire of military assets. As several commentators and experts have noted, its interesting that the missile tested appears to be Russia’s Zvezda Kh-35 subsonic anti-ship missile (whimsically nicknamed the “Harpoonski” for its analogous appearance and function to the McDonnell Douglas Harpoon). Working with the assumption that this rocket is indeed a base-spec Kh-35 or a Kh-35 variant (currently reported as the KN-09), how specifically can North Korea leverage its capabilities against Seoul, if at all? Is this missile indeed “cutting edge” as the Rodong Sinmun would have us believe?
First things first: what are the capabilities of the Kh-35? Designed for air-to-surface and surface-to-surface use (only the latter use case concerns North Korea), the Kh-35 is designed to take out vessels up to 5000 tonnes. Naturally, given the missile’s sub-sonic spec and relatively primitive homing capabilities, any ships with sophisticated contemporary missile defense systems would likely be able to defend themselves against the missile. This certainly include South Korea’s advanced Aegis-equipped destroyers. Other relevant points on the Kh-35′s spec sheet include a range of roughly 130 km with a warhead weight of 145 kg. The missile is equipped with active radar homing and can travel at a maximum speed of 300 m/s (Mach 0.8).
Read the full story at The Diplomat