North Korea reveals its new 'stealth' ship-destroyer in clear warning to Seoul and the US that it can strike their vessels without warning
- Pyongyang said high speed ship-destroyer project was 10 years in making
- Result is a high-speed hovercraft packed with sea-skimming missiles
- The ship-destroyer can target enemy vessels stationed 100 miles away
- Also boasts machine gun turrets, anti-aircraft missile launchers and a faceted hull, making it incredibly difficult to detect on radar
North
Korea has released an official image of its new 'stealth'
ship-destroyer in a clear warning to both South Korea and the U.S. that
is able to launch deadly attacks on their vessels without warning.
State-run
media said the high-speed cross between a catamaran and hovercraft was
the result of a 10-year project and would enable it to attack any naval
vessels North Korea considers to be a threat.
The
air-cushioned ships are equipped with a rigid, faceted hull, allowing
it to efficiently bounce along the surface of the ocean while
also limiting its radar presence - making it incredibly difficult for
target vessels to detect the ship-destroyer before it launches its
deadly sea-skimming missiles.
North Korea - Kim Jong-un watches new anti-ship missile launch
Blast: North Korea has released this
official image of its new 'stealth' ship-destroyer in a clear warning to
both South Korea and the U.S. that is able to launch deadly attacks on
their vessels without warning
State-run media said the high-speed
cross between a catamaran and hovercraft was the result of a 10-year
project and would enable it to attack any naval vessels North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un considers a threat
Specific
details of North Korea's new 131 foot long ship-destroyer are thin, but
it is understood to have been fitted with small propeller fans to allow
it to reach high speeds of approximately 100mph - double the top speed
of the navy's second fastest hovercraft.
In
terms of firepower, the ship-destroyer is thought to boast powerful
Russian-made sea-skimming missiles called the KH-35 Uran, versions of
which have a range of 135 nautical miles and have been compared with the
U.S. Navy's Harpoon missile.
North
Korea did not reveal detail of the maximum range of its KH-35 Uran
missiles, though it did claim that during testing a ship-destroyer hit
and sunk a target ship from more than 60 miles away.
For
closer combat the ship-destroyer is fitted with two North Korean AK-630
30mm Gatling guns, four machine gun turrets and an anti-aircraft
missile system, according to Ars Technica.
The
ship-destroyer is the latest in a long line of hovercraft-type ship to
be developed by the North Korean navy and there understood to be at
least two more such vessels still in development.
Details of the ship-destroyer came as the South Korean navy carried out joint exercises with the U.S. military
Details of North Korea's new
ship-destroyer came just two days after it test-fired five short-range
missiles into the sea and after South Korean navy performed joint
exercises with the United States
Details
of North Korea's new ship-destroyer came just two days after
it test-fired five short-range missiles into the sea - the second such
weapons test conducted by Pyongyang this year - amid dimming prospects
for the resumption of high-level talks between with its rival South
Korea.
The
missiles, fired from a North Korean coastal town, flew about 125 miles
before landing in waters off the country's east coast, a South Korean
Defense Ministry official said on condition of anonymity, citing
department rules.
North
Korea routinely tests missiles, rockets and artillery, but the latest
launches came with the two Koreas at odds over terms for a possible
summit meeting between their leaders.
The
two countries last month floated the idea of the summit, which would be
the third such meeting since they were divided 70 years ago.
Last year, the North conducted an unusually large number of missile and other weapons tests, drawing protests from South Korea.
The
North still proposed a set of measures that it said would lower
tensions, but South Korea rebuffed them, saying the country must first
take steps toward nuclear disarmament.
The
Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the
1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
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