Mako11 | 02 Nov 2014 11:13 a.m. PST |
Apparently, they bought an old Golf sub, and tore it apart to reverse-engineer it, and are now working on their own, domestically built, ballistic missile submarine: link This certainly ratchets up the capabilities of the NK military, and heightens tensions amongst nations in the region, and even the USA. |
Lion in the Stars | 02 Nov 2014 11:20 a.m. PST |
The littlest Kim sure wants his country destroyed, doesn't he? |
Murphy | 02 Nov 2014 11:27 a.m. PST |
Hmmm..so they bought a 1950's technology diesel sub, in the 1990's…took almost 20 years to take it apart, figure out how it works, put it back together to see if it works…then try to build one of their own…. Okay..so now they have a 1950's era diesel sub with essentially 1st Generation missiles that have never been tested in underwater launches and launch tubes that have never been installed. Yeah I think this thing should be operational ready around 2025 maybe….. |
VonTed | 02 Nov 2014 11:45 a.m. PST |
Building one and keeping one operational are two very different things |
Pete Melvin | 02 Nov 2014 11:47 a.m. PST |
I for one would not be volunteering for that maiden voyage. Not the the poor SOBs who end up on that death trap will get a choice. |
Coelacanth | 02 Nov 2014 1:00 p.m. PST |
Wouldn't North Korea developing a submarine sandwich display a better sense of priorities? Ron |
raylev3 | 02 Nov 2014 3:25 p.m. PST |
It would be a game changer. |
jowady | 02 Nov 2014 4:14 p.m. PST |
This would be funny if it wasn't so sad. North Korea, which so far hasn't been able to make a reliable ballistic missile is now trying to make a sub to launch that missile. This is the country that makes a substandard AK47 under license (they jam). The Golfs were an obsolescent if not obsolete technology when the last was retired from frontline service in about 1990, 24 years later they're going to be even worse. And while it may have been something of a joke, considering the hunger problem in their country I agree that they should be producing sub sandwiches instead of ballistic missile boats. |
skippy0001 | 02 Nov 2014 5:13 p.m. PST |
A Kimchee class submarine sandwich would be deadlier-thanks for that idea Coelecanth, now I'm going to try to make one.:) |
Mako11 | 02 Nov 2014 5:13 p.m. PST |
I wouldn't bet on them being able to launch from under the water. If I recall correctly, some of the early Soviet subs had to surface to launch, and I think the Golf was one of them, so…… |
hocklermp5 | 02 Nov 2014 5:18 p.m. PST |
I have pictures I saved of their "elite special forces" where two of five men firing from the hip have their eyes closed. In all three pics the different uniforms stand out from the surroundings. In all three pics the AK-47s almost look chromed but it is simply a matter of the bluing being almost completely worn away. And these are the people who are going to send a boomer to sea. As above pity the sailors who take that thing down for its first dive. |
Lion in the Stars | 02 Nov 2014 6:36 p.m. PST |
@Coelocant: yes, but the Norks have never shown conventional priorities (other than keeping the Kim family in charge). This is the country that makes a substandard AK47 under license (they jam). Ouch! I didn't think it was possible to build an AK that poorly!!! The Golfs were an obsolescent if not obsolete technology when the last was retired from frontline service in about 1990, 24 years later they're going to be even worse. I could do a lot of damage with a WW2 vintage sub in the South China Sea. I could do more damage with a newer sub (air independent propulsion is a pretty serious game changer), but WW2 vintage would shut down the South China Seas for probably 6 months to a year. But as far as a ballistic missile sub goes, I'm expecting this thing to suffer a horrible commando attack by the South Koreans, assuming it doesn't suffer a horrible accident first. |
Chortle | 02 Nov 2014 7:13 p.m. PST |
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jowady | 02 Nov 2014 7:53 p.m. PST |
The Golfs did have to surface to launch although a modified one could fire submerged. I was giving the N Koreans the benefit of the doubt and assuming they were planning on firing submerged. Of course firing submerged also means making a missile that can be fired submerged and I wonder if the N Koreans can do that. Of course and N Korean "boomer" is going to pick up a USN attack sub tail as soon as it leaves port. And assuming the North can get the technology to work I imagine that the order will probably be that, if the boomer is I range of Japan or most of S Korea and it starts to make an offensive move its going to be introduced to the effectiveness of current anti-submarine technology. "Your submarine is missing? Wherever could it have gone?" |
GROSSMAN | 03 Nov 2014 9:13 a.m. PST |
Sounds like an EPA concern more than a military concern. I would hate to be on that boat when it goes to sea. |
Eclectic Wave | 03 Nov 2014 1:38 p.m. PST |
It's all just part of the new North Korea Artificial Reef program. |
Lion in the Stars | 03 Nov 2014 3:40 p.m. PST |
The Golfs did have to surface to launch although a modified one could fire submerged. I was giving the N Koreans the benefit of the doubt and assuming they were planning on firing submerged. Of course firing submerged also means making a missile that can be fired submerged and I wonder if the N Koreans can do that.
Supposedly, the SS-N-5 aka R21 is the basis for the DPRK's Nodong-1, which would make for a simple install into the sub. Of course and N Korean "boomer" is going to pick up a USN attack sub tail as soon as it leaves port. And assuming the North can get the technology to work I imagine that the order will probably be that, if the boomer is I range of Japan or most of S Korea and it starts to make an offensive move its going to be introduced to the effectiveness of current anti-submarine technology. "Your submarine is missing? Wherever could it have gone?" Assuming that the DPRK does figure out how to do a submerged launch, any time this boomer comes close to the surface it's a launch threat. Simple answer: sink it after submerging the first time it comes close to the surface. |
tuscaloosa | 08 Nov 2014 10:45 a.m. PST |
Of course we were all laughing and making these kinds of jokes when the DPRK was making hesitant steps forward with its' nuke program. And yet, they got there. |
Lion in the Stars | 08 Nov 2014 4:24 p.m. PST |
They did, sorta. They also have not done an all-up test. Of course, neither has the US since the early 1960s. |