Russian Support? North Korea’s New Missile Poses Naval Threat

Reverse-engineering of Russian anti-ship missile Uran(Kh-35)
Considering the flight time, the range is about to be 124 miles

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised an acceptance firing of the new ground-to-sea missile Badasuri-6, which will be equipped in the navy, on the morning of the 14th, according to the Korean Central News Agency reported on the 15th. Korean Central News Agency-Yonhap News

North Korea has unveiled a new ground-to-ship missile that appears to have been developed with Russian technical support.

The new North Korean anti-ship missile, believed to be an improved version of the North Korean version Uran, a reverse-engineered Russian anti-ship missile Uran (Kh-35), is expected to pose a significant threat to the South Korean navy ships.

On the 15th, the North Korean state-run Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim Jong Un had directed the test launch of the newly developed ground-to-ship missile Badasuri-6 on the 14th.

Badasuri-6 flew for about 23 minutes and 20 seconds, hitting the target line. The agency reported that Kim was delighted with the test results. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff also announced that North Korea had launched several cruise missiles from the northeastern sea off Wonsan, Gangwon-do, around 9 am the previous day.

Badasuri-6 looks similar to the North Korean version of Uran, an anti-ship missile that North Korea first unveiled in February 2015. The North Korean version of Uran is an anti-ship cruise missile developed by reverse-engineering the Russian anti-ship missile Uran (Kh-35), and Badasuri-6 appears to be an improved version. Considering the flight time, the range of Badasuri-6 launched at this time is estimated to be about 124 miles.

Sin Jong Woo, a specialist at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, explained, “Badasuri-6 is equipped with a solid fuel booster, air intake, radar, and infrared optics seeker, and “It appears to be a subsonic speed (below the speed of sound) missile rather than supersonic speed missile.”

North Korea launched Badasuri-6 from a mobile launcher, ground platform, to the sea the previous day. Typically, anti-ship missiles are launched from ships, but Badasuri-6 appears capable of being launched from both ground and vessels.

Military authorities believe that Badasuri-6 could threaten our navy ships performing tasks in areas near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West and East Seas.

A military official explained, “In the case of navy destroyers, they have a three-stage defense system that blocks incoming anti-ship missiles with SM-2, followed by Surface-to-Air Anti-Missile and Close-In Weapon Systems. Escort ships also have Surface-to-Air Anti-Missile and Close-In Weapon Systems.”