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I want to know who sold it to them

North Korea has a new submarine that, according to Joseph Bermudez, “will have greater range, patrol time and weapons capability than the existing KPN fleet of coastal submarines.” Please don’t try to tell me they built this thing from scratch. Someone broke U.N. sanctions to sell it to them.

6 Responses

  1. The size and shape of the submarine bears a resemblance to old Yugoslav models, the designs of which North Korea gained in the 1970s. No, I don’t claim to be a submarine expert. I lifted that sentence from your Bermudez link.

  2. It is one strange looking submersible, straight out of the 1960s. It’s got more in common with the (really, really old) Italian Flutto and Soviet Zulu class of diesel boats than anything anyone else is using. It could be a knock-off of a Yugoslav/Italian design, and that makes weird sense, because Yugoslavian and Italian boats had to operate in an enclosed sea, the Adriatic, and DPRK vessels have a similar problem to face on the West Sea.

    But it doesn’t look stealthy, with that anomalous vertical unit (which may be removable if it designed to hide the kinds of periscope and other sensors the sub has.) And a newish vessel should not be coughing and spluttering the way the diesel smoke indicates this one is, so it probably has secondhand engines.

    I would imagine that its primary purpose is to lay bottom mines outside South Korean, Chinese or Japanese harbors. Given modern anti-submarine warfare technology, a torpedo launched from this barge would be its last. But a minefield laid at night doesn’t require such disclosure, and it can have a far greater effect than a single live torpedo.

    And how did a guy with gout climb up the conning tower access? Was he lifted onboard by crane? Big crane.

  3. I would say Russia, I don’t think China would do that. But while we’re thinking of suspects, any former Russian states out there that are friendly with NK?

    Anyway just from looking at it, they likely wouldn’t be able to equip it to fire Nukes, it looks like a piece of.. It wouldn’t last 5 minutes if they used it to attack the South.

  4. A) Couldn’t it just be another one of the existing fleet? I recall a funny picture of KJU close up on a conning tower a while back.

    B) If it was new, couldn’t they have at least taken the time to sand and paint the thing? There is a rustline at the water line that makes it look awful. I mean even a ratlle-can job could have done wonders for the propaganda shot.

    C) NK has 70?!? subs? That is way more than I would have thought.

  5. People do realize the sub pictured in the link to VOA News is **NOT** the new DPRK sub, right? That’s an old stock photo from one of their ROMEO-class boats.

    Satellite imagery of the new sub can be seen at 38Noth. To me, it looks like a scaled-up SANGO class, but that doesn’t mean much.