North Korea carries out tests of new destroyer's weapons

A TV news broadcast at Seoul Railway Station shows North Korea's new destroyer Choe Hyon at its launch ceremony. (Kim Jae-Hwan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

North Korea has begun test firing the various weapon systems that have been incorporated on its newly launched 5,000 tonne warship, Choe Hyon.

In a report on 30 April, state-sponsored Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) described the firings as performance and combat “application tests”.

According to details provided in the KCNA report, test firings of these weapon systems were carried out on 28 and 29 April, with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un witnessing the events on the first day.

Firings of “supersonic cruise missiles”, “strategic cruise missiles”, anti-aircraft missiles, and the vessel's 127 mm naval gun were carried out on 28 April.

This was followed by firings of the vessel's anti-ship missile, electronic warfare (EW) weapons, and shipboard “automatic guns” on 29 April, the report said.

The “automatic guns” is likely a reference to Choe Hyon's pair of Gatling gun-based close-in weapon system (CIWS) turrets that resemble the Russian AK-630 system.

Images released by KCNA suggest that the anti-aircraft missiles were likely deployed from a stern-facing missile-equipped CIWS that takes after the Russian Pantsir-M system.

One of these images also suggest that the weapon launched from Choe Hyon's forward-located vertical launching system (VLS) during the tests bears close resemblance to the Russian scramjet-powered 3M-22 Zircon hypersonic anti-ship missile.

Janes has carried out digital verifications of the KCNA images and these visuals are likely authentic.

In his statement issued in conjunction with the tests, Kim stressed the importance of accelerating the country's offensive capabilities, including in developing nuclear weapons that can be deployed from naval assets.