North Korean SLBM Launched Assessed as A Failure, But Progress Made

As we have seen with other North Korean missiles the more they test, the better they get at mastering the technology:

North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) off its east coast on Saturday, but the missile failed in its initial flight stage, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

The missile was fired from waters southeast of the coastal port city of Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province, at around 11:30 a.m., according to the military.

“The SLBM was ejected from the submarine normally, but (we) estimate the initial flight was unsuccessful,” the JCS said in a brief press release.

“Our military strongly denounces such provocative acts by North Korea,” the JCS noted.

North Korea’s ballistic missile launches are direct violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions, including its Musudan missile launches on June 22 and the latest launch, the military said.

Military sources said the latest SLBM appears to have exploded at an altitude of some 10 kilometers after being fired from a submerged 2,000-ton Sinpo-class submarine.

The missile flew only a few kilometers before the presumed explosion, they said.

South Korea’s military said that North Korea has achieved progress in the initial undersea ejection stage of its SLBM technology.

The North is probably in the flight test stage of its SLBM before moving onto the final test phase that will require the missile to hit targets, the sources said.

The North may be ready to deploy its SLBMs for service in about three years, according to the military.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but out of all of North Korea’s missiles this is the most dangerous and a game changer because it can defeat missile defenses.  That is because submarines can fire without notice from any direction which prevents missile defense units from knowing in which direction to point their radars towards.