DPRK unveils new cruise missile

[Sineva]

Altho the recent dprk military parade was pretty low key with nothing much of interest vis-a-vis new weapons,it seems that the dprk was just waiting for the right moment to finally let us know what was in those new extended length KN06/pon`gae-5 type canisters that we first saw in the last big parade

Tho the vehicle in the bottom launch pic looks like its a new unitary tel,rather than the earlier trailer/prime mover version thats clearly based on the new KN06/Pon`gae-5 tel.Plus its also packing 5 launch tubes rather than 4.

It looks like its one of these tels,tho these appear to be ballistic missile transporters

The reversed cone style air intake is a bit unusual,it also looks like it might be fixed judging from the fact that its clearly visible as its still exiting the launch tube,the wings also appear to be slightly swept in the pic,but this could be them just in the process of deploying.
Range is claimed to be the same as the roks hyunmoo 3c [1500kms],no surprises there of course.Tho I do wonder what type of engine it uses,probably a turbofan,but which one?.One obvious possibility would likely be the R95-300 via iran.

 

[stealthflanker]

This is major advancement in terms of diversification of deterrence. Cruise missiles represent a gamut of flexibility not available in NK's ballistic missile forces.

The size of the missile is according to some osint estimates, the armscontrol wonks and my own view would be somewhere in 8.2 m in length and 50-60 cm in diameter.

In my view tho it would be about 510 mm (51 cm) and 7.2 m in length for flight configuration (8.2 m is 1 m booster + 7.2 m the in-flight missile). My assumption was the NK will attempt to maximize the compatibility of this weapon not only for ground based launchers, but also naval and air launched. 533 mm is then a good choice.

The range is said to be 1500 km. My estimate with launch weight of about 2000 Kg, L/D of 5, SFC of 1 and fuel load of 200 Kg gave about 1586 km. I might need to revise the SFC and propellant load figure tho as the type of engine is unknown atm. I assume typical turbojet with 3600 sec of ISP's which correspond to the value of the SFC. General rule of thumb to find ISP from SFC is 3600/SFC as far as i remember.

They should be playing with this more as cruise missiles offers considerable amount of deterrence and easily stealth, making countering them an expensive proposition. Also they can use smaller launcher which can pack more missiles, more mobility and even harder to pick.

an air launched version can maybe gave their old fleet of Il-28 a new lease of life and if they willing to experiment further. Il-76 can be a good platform, dropping it from its cargo bay.

 

[supergaleb]

Remember that it maneuvered thus range would be even longer if it went in a straight line.

Iranian cruise missile with clone of R95-300/MS-400 turbofan demonstrated range of 1200 kilometers. Soumar, IIRC.

Also North Korea already acquired R95-300 by purchasing Kh-35 missiles from Russia in 2005.

 

[Sineva]

The DPRK carried out a submerged launch of 2 cruise missiles from its Gorae class submarine on the 12th.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1635024956181602305

As with all things north korean theres still an awful lot of unknowns.Are these one of the 2 new land attack cruise missiles shown off in the last 18 months,or are they a brand new dedicated naval cruise missile?.
Were they launched from the single ballistic missile test tube on the Gorae,or did they use something simpler like a buoyant capsule ejected from the torpedo tubes?.