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North Korea Ratcheting Up Sub Missile Launch Program, Satellite Images Suggest

02 May 2017 23:28 (UTC +04:00)

New satellite images indicate that North Korea could be expanding its submarine-launched ballistic missile program (SLBM), as photos show the presence of Pyongyang’s second submersible test-stand barge, APA reports quoting Sputnik.

The barge was spotted on North Korea’s west coast in aerial photos taken of the Nampo Naval Shipyard, 38 North, a North Korean watchdog site hosted by Johns Hopkins University’s US-Korea institute, noted in a Monday analysis.

The report, written by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., suggests that "Barges such as these are used by navies to conduct underwater tests of new and modified submarine missile launch tubes and launch systems, as well as to conduct initial missile test launches before these systems are installed in a submarine."

Since 2014, Pyongyang has conducted at least six test launches of the KN-11 (Pukguksong-1) missile from its other barge at the Sinpo South Shipyard on the country’s east coast.

The new, second barge appears identical to the first, according to the report, and appear to be modeled after Russia’s old PSD-4 barges.