The photographs of the North Korean submarine aroused great interest from experts.
Recently, the North Korean leader examined the latest submarine designed for the DPRK fleet. This event was widely covered by the media. “Kim Jong-un inspected the new submarine. The boat is designed to perform tasks in the operational area of the East Sea, the Central Telegraph Agency of Korea (CTAC) said in a statement. "The distinguished senior leader expressed great satisfaction that the submarine was designed and built to successfully fulfill the military-strategic plan of our party in any circumstances."
Some photos showed the DPRK leader and the blurred silhouette of a submarine in the background. Now the researcher of the Navy H. I. Sutton has published on his website high-quality photos of the new North Korean submarine, taken during its inspection by the country's leader.
The specialist drew attention to important design features, and also presented an infographic on the possible structure of the submarine. “The footage shown on the CTAC shows only the lower hull of the submarine, near the stern and near the bow. This is enough to say with confidence that we have before us a modified submarine of the Romeo class,”the expert writes.
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Apparently, the sub has two propellers and is likely capable of carrying ballistic missiles.
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Project 633 submarines ("Romeo" by NATO classification) were built in the USSR in the 1950s. In total, from 1957 to 1961, 20 such boats were produced at the Krasnoye Sormovo shipyard. The crew of the submarine is 52 people. The boat can carry 14 torpedoes. At one time it became known that several of these submarines were decided to be used in the Russian Navy as stationary training centers.
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Earlier, we will remind, the experts found out that the North Korean nuclear bomb tested in 2017 could have a yield of up to 328 kilotons, which is significantly more power than initially assumed.
The threat posed by North Korean nuclear weapons and a large (albeit archaic) fleet is forcing North Korea's neighbors to invest huge sums of money in the development and acquisition of the latest weapons systems. Last year, we recall that the South Korean fleet received a lead ship of the FFX type of the second series (Batch II).