[Comprehensive] Did North Korea's Cruise Missile Succeed in Operationalizing Anti-Ship Capability?

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu Reporter] North Korea has launched several projectiles presumed to be short-range cruise missiles.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced on the 14th, "This morning, several projectiles presumed to be short-range cruise missiles were launched from the Munchon area in Gangwon Province towards the East Sea."

Our military is closely monitoring North Korea's additional military movements and maintaining a firm readiness posture. Currently, South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are conducting a detailed analysis of the related matters. North Korea launched projectiles again just 16 days after firing a 'super-large multiple rocket launcher' into the East Sea on the 29th of last month. This is the fifth launch this year.

If the projectiles are cruise missiles, it is highly likely that they are the Kh-35 anti-ship missiles that North Korea showcased in 2015. Developing land-to-ship cruise missiles is analyzed as a response to U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and other naval vessels approaching the Korean Peninsula. North Korea is developing land-to-ship missiles with long range and high precision to destroy South Korean and U.S. naval vessels operating at long distances.

North Korea's Kh-35 anti-ship missile is modeled after the anti-ship missile developed by Russia in the 1990s. The Kh-35 flies at 0.8 times the speed of sound, is hardly affected by electronic jamming, and can track and destroy ships up to 130 km away. Its maximum range is 50 km longer than the Styx anti-ship missile (maximum range 80 km). Especially, it flies at an ultra-low altitude of 15 meters above the sea and lowers its altitude further for a surprise attack as it approaches the target, making it difficult to detect and intercept with radar. It is presumed that North Korea either directly imported the Kh-35 or obtained it through a third country and developed an independent model through reverse engineering by disassembling and reassembling it.

When North Korea revealed it in 2015, the missile was launched from a new type of ship (estimated 300 tons). This was the first public unveiling of North Korea's new ship. The ship is designed with a stealth shape that is hard to detect by radar and can sail at a maximum speed of 90 km/h.

Later, in 2017, North Korea modified the anti-ship missile launched from the ship into a land-to-ship missile. When North Korea launched it in 2015, it flew 100 km, but within about two years, the range was extended to 200 km. On April 15 of that year, during the 105th anniversary parade of Kim Il-sung's birthday, North Korea unveiled a tracked vehicle equipped with four missile launch tubes for land-to-ship missiles.

The problem is that if it has been converted to a land-to-ship missile, it could potentially be launched from mobile launchers, submarines, aircraft, and other platforms in the future. Unlike ballistic missiles that use rocket propulsion, cruise missiles are jet engine-based, so their flight speed is slower and range is shorter. However, they have higher accuracy than ballistic missiles and fly at low altitudes. If equipped with a waypoint function (which allows detouring along a set route), they can bypass targets and attack. This means they can bypass obstacles such as islands and strike targets behind them.

Especially if deployed in the West Sea, they would be located within 200 km of the coastal areas of Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces, allowing North Korea to use cruise missiles to strike ships in the West Sea. Since the range reaches the Taean Peninsula in the West Sea, where South Korea-U.S. joint naval exercises are conducted, it could also affect the exercises themselves.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.