US media: the "new" submarine of the DPRK created from the Soviet backlog 1950-x
North Korea, as reported earlier by VO, presented its “new” diesel-electric submarine armed with ballistic missiles. In fact, a significantly modified Romeo-class submarine from the Soviet backlog of the 1950s was shown. This opinion was voiced by the American edition of The War Zone.
The North Korean state media for the first time began publishing photos dedicated to the visit of the country's leader Kim Jong-un to the shipyard Sinpo, where the production of submarines is concentrated. In this case, the censors blurred one of the parts of the submarine under consideration. This indicates that there are launchers designed to launch submarine-launched ballistic missiles (which can be stuffed with a nuclear warhead).
According to the indicated edition, the product inspected by Kim seems to be a highly modified Romeo class submarine. From the words of The War Zone, this type of submarine, developed by the USSR in 1950-ies [under the designation 633], is an evolution of projects created after the 2-th World War based on German submarines.
In North Korean navy was up to about 20 units of Romeo. However, it is unclear how many of them have remained operational by now.
- notes the publication.
In his words, the location of the launchers returns us to the early Soviet SSB [ballistic missile submarine and DEU] and their nuclear counterparts, such as the Golf [629 project] and Hotel [628]. The new submarine retains many other Romeo design features, including a twin-screw propulsion system and a corner front housing.
Romeo's modernization is a somewhat intriguing solution, since the DPRK has a more modern product - Gorae submarines (referred to in the United States as Sinpo-B). In 2016, she made the successful launch of the Pukkuksong-1 rocket. In the same year, a new submarine was discovered, which later became known as Sinpo-C. It is believed that she is the successor to Gorae.
It is possible that the conversion of older Romeo to SSB [they initially carried torpedo-mine weapons] is a cheaper and less risky way for Pyongyang, which seeks to increase its fleet of submarines carrying this type weapons.
The North Korean state media for the first time began publishing photos dedicated to the visit of the country's leader Kim Jong-un to the shipyard Sinpo, where the production of submarines is concentrated. In this case, the censors blurred one of the parts of the submarine under consideration. This indicates that there are launchers designed to launch submarine-launched ballistic missiles (which can be stuffed with a nuclear warhead).
According to the indicated edition, the product inspected by Kim seems to be a highly modified Romeo class submarine. From the words of The War Zone, this type of submarine, developed by the USSR in 1950-ies [under the designation 633], is an evolution of projects created after the 2-th World War based on German submarines.
Standard Representative of the 633 Project
In North Korean navy was up to about 20 units of Romeo. However, it is unclear how many of them have remained operational by now.
It is unclear whether this new submarine is the transformation of one of the remaining Romeo or Sinpo [shipyard] restored the decommissioned hull, and then changed it to perform new tasks.
- notes the publication.
Why was Romeo chosen?
In his words, the location of the launchers returns us to the early Soviet SSB [ballistic missile submarine and DEU] and their nuclear counterparts, such as the Golf [629 project] and Hotel [628]. The new submarine retains many other Romeo design features, including a twin-screw propulsion system and a corner front housing.
Romeo's modernization is a somewhat intriguing solution, since the DPRK has a more modern product - Gorae submarines (referred to in the United States as Sinpo-B). In 2016, she made the successful launch of the Pukkuksong-1 rocket. In the same year, a new submarine was discovered, which later became known as Sinpo-C. It is believed that she is the successor to Gorae.
It is possible that the conversion of older Romeo to SSB [they initially carried torpedo-mine weapons] is a cheaper and less risky way for Pyongyang, which seeks to increase its fleet of submarines carrying this type weapons.
Information