U.S. and Japanese experts believe that North Korea is developing a new submarine even bigger than the 2,000-ton it now uses for the launch of ballistic missiles, the website 38 North said Thursday.
Military boffin Joseph Bermudez, whose information is usually sound, told a conference hosted by 38 North that the North seems to have started building a new bigger submarine. He also said the submarine-launched ballistic missile the North fired from the East Sea on Wednesday was launched directly from a submarine, not from a barge as some reports speculated.
| How could he tell? I'm genuinely curious... |
"Assuming the current rate of development, while North Korea still faces significant technological challenges including building a new class of submarine to carry the missile, it is on track to develop the capability to strike targets in the region -- including Japan -- by 2020," the website said.
Meanwhile, the Asahi Shimbun reported that the North could even deploy SLBMs warfare-ready this year. It said Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo believe the North will make haste to build a nuclear-powered submarine from which it can strike the U.S. mainland. |