A mysterious warship of the North Korean Navy could even make the United States feel uneasy.
Author: Alexander Timokhin
A few days ago, a truly remarkable warship of North Korea was launched. On one hand, it is very similar to the design scheme of one of Russia's vessels; on the other hand, it clearly has elements of American design. Judging from its equipped weapon systems, this warship is a complete mystery. But that's not all that makes it unique.
According to reports from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), this new warship has a displacement of 4,000 tons and is classified as a "frigate" in North Korea. It is named the "Choe Hyun," in honor of a famous North Korean general who led the guerrilla actions against Japan's occupation of the Korean Peninsula. The portrait of this general is hung on the superstructure at the stern, and during the first public display of the ship, Kim Jong-un knelt on one knee before the hero's portrait and presented flowers. In Russia and most countries around the world, this warship would be classified as a "frigate."
This is the largest surface warship ever built by North Korea. Previously, the largest warship built by them was a light frigate with a displacement of 1,500 tons. In North Korea, it took only 400 days to build this warship, which is much faster than our construction speed for similar warships. However, this warship will continue to be improved during its sea trials, with an expected delivery time of 2026.
The waterline, outline, main dimensions, and layout of some weapons of this warship remind one of the further development plan of the 11356-type frigate designed by the Northern Design Bureau of Russia. Clearly, this warship was built with Russian assistance. However, it is neither a copy of any of our warships nor a full realization of one of our projects—it has undergone significant redesign by the North Koreans.
This warship was built in an indoor dock in Nampo City, and photos were released by North Korean media taken from the bow direction. A platform can be seen at the bow section for installing a bulbous sonar station (GAS). However, photos taken from the stern show that this North Korean warship lacks a towed array sonar, greatly limiting its anti-submarine capabilities.
By April 1st, this warship was moved from the dry dock to a floating dock covered with camouflage netting. At that time, the French captured photos of it from space. Based on the released photos, enthusiasts measured the hull length to be 144 meters and the width to be 22 meters. The 3D models published online show that it is equipped with a dual-axis main propulsion system (GEU) driving two propellers.
From the released photos, we can determine the configuration of the radio-electronic weapons (REW), missile weapon systems, and cannons of this warship, as well as its structure. The core of the radio-electronic weapons is a radar system (RLC) with four large antenna panels that look like phased-array antennas (AESA). Russia does not produce such-sized antennas, and North Korea does not have the capability to produce these antennas independently. There are also rectangular areas below the bridge windows on the superstructure, which may be installation locations for other antennas.
No search radar was found. This is strange because phased-array antenna panels usually do not replace "search radars." Perhaps they work in the centimeter waveband and can replace search radars; perhaps they work in other bands, and the North Koreans somehow use the navigation radar as a search radar. Overall, the configuration of the radar system looks incomplete.
However, it is clear that the air defense missiles used require radar illumination of targets—for this purpose, two target illuminating radars are installed on the superstructure, looking like small rectangular projectors. The two target illuminating radars indirectly indicate that the number of airborne targets that this warship can simultaneously guide and launch air defense missiles against is exactly this number.
The warship is equipped with electronic warfare devices. There are also installations resembling the antennas of radar reconnaissance stations, as well as fire control radars for AK-630 or 630M close-range anti-aircraft guns mounted on the sides.
In terms of armament, there is a bow cannon mount. Moreover, the gun turret is clearly not a Soviet or Russian gun mount but an American Mk.45 Mod 4 127 mm (5-inch) gun. After a few days of public display, the warship went out to sea and conducted its first firing. The KCNA clearly stated that there was a "test firing of the automatic 127 mm naval gun."
In other words, North Korea adopted the standard of the U.S. Navy's guns, i.e., the 5-inch gun. The reason and method for doing so are both mysteries.
Another mystery is the configuration of the missile weapons. This new warship has two vertical launching system (VLS) modules—one located between the bow gun mount and the superstructure, and the other in the position where a helicopter hangar would normally be in a Russian vessel design. The latter is reasonable because North Korea does not have its own anti-submarine helicopters, and there is nothing deployable on board.
Surprisingly, the list of missile types carried by this warship is unique. Two types of missile launch covers can be seen in the vertical launchers at the bow, which we might call "small" missiles (32 units) and "medium" missiles (12 units). Near the stern, in the location of what would be the hangar, there are "medium" missiles (8 units) and some missiles whose size is between "small" and "medium" (12 units). Further back, towards the stern, there is another vertical launcher with a very large missile launch cover (10 units). The sizes of these missiles lead some experts to believe that this warship carries ballistic missiles.
There is also a "hangar"-style launcher located between the superstructure and the main engine. In any country's naval design, this position would typically be occupied by compact anti-ship missiles. However, the North Koreans installed the "Hwasong-2" cruise missiles here, which are tilted and mounted on the deck for side launch. Judging from the size of the launch tubes, they appear to be intended for ground strikes, with a total of 8 units.
In summary, if the "Hwasong-2" missiles are indeed 8 units, then this warship carries a total of 82 missiles of 5 different types—a very diverse arsenal. Some of them are definitely air defense missiles, clearly visible from training launch photos, while others are cruise missiles, somewhat similar to our "Kalibr" missiles.
For comparison, Russia's 22350-class frigates are larger and have greater displacement. They carry 32 air defense missiles and 16 attack missiles (including various types, from anti-ship missiles to land-attack cruise missiles) in two types of launchers.
The cost of having such a large number of missiles on such a small warship is the absence of a helicopter hangar. However, this warship has two small hangars, located on either side of the largest vertical launcher, with hangar doors slightly higher than human height, leading to a landing deck towards the stern. The only reasonable explanation for these hangars is their use for placing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Therefore, the ship's aerial reconnaissance capability might be quite good.
Above the superstructure on top of the main engine is an air defense missile gun system, similar to our "Pantsir-M," but without a missile storage and reloading system (SCRP). If this is not a model but an actual operational system, then the missile ammunition supply is limited to those loaded onto the launcher. Its installation near the chimney is less than ideal—the smoke would interfere with the optical aiming channel, which appears to be present in the photos.
One thing we can learn from them is the installation of small guided missile launchers resembling anti-tank missiles along the sides, controlled via fiber-optic cables. First, such missiles are very useful in defending against suicide fast boats; secondly, they can operate in crowded maritime areas without inadvertently harming neutral ships and can accurately hit enemy antenna arrays or gun mounts.
The type of main engine remains unclear—North Korea does not have its own designs for warship engines or turbines, Ukraine is unlikely to provide related equipment, and Russia also faces issues in supplying main engines for its own fleet. The only possible supplier of such engines is from relevant countries. These countries only equip such vessels with diesel engines. The lack of an obvious intake system for a turbine indirectly confirms this is a diesel-powered system.
However, what is more surprising than the armament of the warship is that North Korea managed to build such a warship. Building a warship capable of operating in the open ocean itself is no small feat. Even wealthier countries cannot build such a warship.
And the big question is how the North Koreans managed to do it. This is not just about funding, nor is it about parts of the equipment being models, or the severe imbalance in the warship's armament configuration (having so many types of missiles on one ship is more of a disadvantage than an advantage).
The problem is that North Korea is a small country with a population of only 26.3 million, lacking the technological systems to produce phased-array antennas or large diesel engines for warships. There simply aren't enough people there to produce everything they've shown over the past decade, and there is no relevant production tradition—but judging from its appearance, this warship is built very well. How they reached such a level of production capacity is a major mystery.
The purpose of building such a warship is also interesting. With just domestic missiles, without a fleet, they can instill fear in Japan and South Korea. However, deploying a ship armed with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles within 1,000 to 1,500 kilometers of the U.S. coast would make Americans highly anxious.
Of course, the "Choe Hyun" cannot compete with U.S. nuclear submarines, nor can it withstand surface combat groups consisting of multiple frigates, F/A-18 carrier-based attack aircraft squadrons, or U.S. Air Force bombers armed with anti-ship missiles. However, to deal with this North Korean warship, forces would need to be dispatched from elsewhere, sent into the open ocean, consuming a lot of time and fuel, possibly suffering losses, and there is even a risk that the target could escape... and North Korea might build other ships as well.
On the other hand, perhaps there are other plans in the works for our allies, who might intend to use their fleets against other countries, such as promoting active policies in some African location. All of this remains a mystery. Regardless, North Korea's deployment of this warship has once again left everyone puzzled and heightened vigilance among its enemies. And from all indications, this is just the beginning.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7501256180862403108/
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