New airframe materials and intelligent multi-composite guidance system verified

Long-range cruise missiles strike simulated airfield targets

North Korea conducts a long-range strategic cruise missile launch drill last year. [Yonhap]
North Korea conducts a long-range strategic cruise missile launch drill last year. [Yonhap]

North Korea said Thursday it test-fired a new anti-aircraft missile into the Donghae on Wednesday and conducted a demonstration firepower drill with long-range strategic cruise missiles.

KCNA said the Missile General Bureau carried out a test launch Wednesday "to verify the design and technical characteristics of a new comprehensive anti-aircraft missile system."

General Kim Jong-sik, a member of the Korean Workers' Party Central Military Commission and first vice director of the Party Central Committee, guided the test alongside senior officials from the Missile General Bureau and the defense science research sector.

KCNA said the test "verified the technical characteristics and reliability of new airframe materials, an intelligent multi-composite guidance system, the target identification and tracking capabilities of the anti-aircraft missile system, and its detection and information-processing unit." It did not disclose the missile's specifications, range, launch site or target.

North Korea also conducted a demonstration firepower drill Wednesday involving long-range strategic cruise missile units of the eastern regional command.

KCNA said the units "perfectly carried out strike missions against simulated airfield targets using long-range strategic cruise missiles," adding that the tests and drills were "a continuation of the obligatory activities of defense and military sectors at all levels to enhance the technical sophistication of combat systems and improve the combat reliability of strategic weapons."

Earlier, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that North Korea had fired several missiles from the Sondok area of South Hamgyong Province into the Donghae on Wednesday morning. The military assessed the missiles flew less than 300 kilometers and had been analyzing multiple possibilities, including a close-range ballistic missile, a surface-to-air missile and a cruise missile.


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