North Korea’s New Warship Appears To Be Designed For Vertical Launch System, Phased Array Radar

North Korea’s new warship design has emerged and it appears to be the largest the country has yet constructed. The vessel, which looks to be around the size of a typical modern frigate, or at the least a very large corvette, also appears to be designed to accommodate a vertical launch system (VLS) for missiles, and a phased-array radar, two advanced items not previously seen on a North Korean design.

Photos of the new warship, the name of which has not been disclosed, were recently released by North Korea’s state-run Korean Central Television (KCTV). The vessel is seen being inspected by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un while under construction in a dry dock at Nampho Shipyard, on the Taedong River estuary, on the west coast of the country.

The photos are undated, but the oldest shows the construction facility covered by netting, to hide it from view, but this is later seen replaced by a more permanent roof structure. According to NK Pro, which provides data analysis on North Korea, the earliest photo was probably taken before October of this year, since this is when the roof was added.

Imagery analysis from the same outlet suggests that Kim visited the warship under construction on at least one other earlier occasion.

Previous photos of the vessel appeared in November, during a defense exhibition in North Korea, but they only showed the bow area and with very limited detail as they can only be seen in wide-angle images released of the event.

Before that, in September, Kim was photographed inspecting the ship and this photo was also published by state media. However, the photo was heavily cropped and there was little idea of the scale or the overall appearance of the vessel. One of the four new photos also appears to have been taken during that same visit.

As for the size of the new vessel, Joseph Dempsey, Research Associate for Defence and Military Analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) determines that it’s “likely a destroyer and the largest warship ever constructed in the DPRK.”

According to Dempsey’s previous analysis, “the design appears to have an approximately 15-meter (50-foot) beam,” making it around one-third wider than the Amnok and Tuman class corvettes, which are the largest warships that North Korea has built for decades. The Amnok and Tuman class are both approximately 250 feet long, a typical length for a modern corvette, although the distinction between warship types — especially frigates and corvettes — is increasingly blurred.

Larger than the Amnok and Tuman class are the Najin class frigates dating from the 1970s, with a beam of around 33 feet and a length of 328 feet. Only two or three of these aging vessels are thought to still be in North Korean service.

Dempsey suggests that the new warship is “more than 100 meters (328 feet) long,” although it would have to be significantly longer than this to be considered a destroyer, in the modern understanding of that classification, with modern frigates already typically being longer than 328 feet. The Franco-Italian FREMM frigate is 465 feet long, and the Chinese Type 054 frigate is 440 feet long, for example.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the new warship design is the apparent provision for some kind of vertical launch system (VLS), the presence of which is suggested by a large space immediately forward of the bridge. While there isn’t a VLS has been installed so far, this would make sense considering the design and would reflect the weapons configurations on many other modern surface combatants.

Provided that the new warship is intended to have a VLS, there are a variety of different kinds of missile that might be considered as payloads. These would include naval versions of surface-to-air missiles, as well as possibly anti-ship missiles, but North Korea is also increasingly focusing on the development of land attack cruise missiles — including some which are claimed to be nuclear-armed. More importantly, should a VLS is fitted, it would therefore provide the warship with much more magazine depth than previous North Korean warships, with the ability to field multiple types of weapons in a single launcher.

Notably, North Korea has also previously said it had plans for “constantly deploying a ship loaded with new-type anti-aircraft missiles.” That might also be a reference to the new warship, and its potential VLS capability. The statement was an explicit threat to U.S. reconnaissance aircraft operating off the North Korean coast.

While North Korea is currently busy with a wide range of military developments — with its missile programs gaining the most attention for its rapid advances — Kim has, in recent months, made statements focused on the maritime domain especially.

Earlier this year, state media quoted Kim as saying that increasing the power of its naval forces is “the most important issue in reliably defending the maritime sovereignty of the country and stepping up the war preparations at present.” He also called for “​​pushing ahead with the planned building of ships and unconditionally completing them within the period of the Five-Year Plan.”

Although not explicitly named as such, it seems likely that the new vessel is part of this warship-building program and it certainly fits within aspirations to develop naval capabilities, although it’s unclear how many of the hulls might be planned.

Should the first of the new vessels be completed “within the period of the Five-Year Plan,” this would imply that it would be finished by January 2026. Based on the progress made so far, that would seem feasible, although it remains to be seen exactly what kinds of weapons and sensors might be installed and there would still be a period of testing and working up before the warship is actually commissioned into service.

There has already been speculation that the new warship might end up going to sea with a phased-array radar, due to the large apertures on the sides of the superstructure that would accommodate the antennas for such a system. A combination of VLS and phased-array radar would strongly suggest the warship is intended to serve in an air-defense-optimized role, filling a long-standing gap in the fleet for an anti-air picket ship.

With the previous Amnok and Tuman class, a handful of vessels have been completed in shipyards on the east and west coasts, and it’s possible that the new design might superseded these less-capable designs in the same yards.

As well as the new vessel, North Korea is meanwhile working on other surface combatants, including smaller anti-submarine warfare vessels and missile boats, and some more innovative designs like the Nalchi class very slender vessel (VSV) with a wave-piercing hull.

In addition, North Korea is also developing underwater capabilities, although with mixed successes so far. However, there has been recent evidence that Pyongyang might be developing its first nuclear-powered submarine design, which also underscores its significant naval ambitions. You can read more about that here.

For now, while the size of North Korea’s latest warship design is impressive and while it certainly has the potential to carry a comprehensive range of armament and sensors, major questions remain about Pyongyang’s abilities to field higher-end naval military technologies in a fully applicable, integrated form. Even if North Korea is able to introduce a new warship with a usable radar system and a VLS array able to launch multiple types of missiles, it still remains to be seen whether the country has the shipbuilding capacity to build a more meaningful number of these warships.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com