North Korea tests new ‘super-large warhead’, says state media | Gun News

Pyongyang says a new warhead for cruise missiles has been created, adding that a new anti-aircraft rocket has also been tested.

North Korea has conducted a test of a “super-large warhead” designed for a strategic cruise missile, state media reports, adding that it has also launched a new type of anti-aircraft missile.

“The DPRK Missile Administration has conducted a power test of a super-large warhead designed for the ‘Hwasal-1 Ra-3’ strategic cruise missile,” KCNA news agency reported on Saturday, referring to North Korea by an abbreviation of its official name – Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

North Korea also carried out a test launch on Friday afternoon of a “Pyoljji-1-2,” which state media said was a “new type of anti-aircraft missile.”

KCNA added that “a certain objective was achieved” through the test, without providing further details.

The weapons tests were part of the “regular activities of the administration and its affiliated defense scientific institutes,” KCNA reported, referring to the operation of “new weapons systems.”

The tests “had nothing to do with the surrounding situation”, KCNA added, but did not provide further information.

In early April, North Korea said it had tested a new medium- to long-range solid-fuel hypersonic missile, with state media outlets sharing a video of its launch as leader Kim Jong Un looked on.

The cruise missiles are part of a growing collection of North Korean weapons designed to overwhelm regional missile defenses. They complement the North’s vast arsenal of ballistic missiles, including intercontinental variants, which are said to target the continental United States.

Analysts say anti-aircraft missile technology is one area where North Korea could benefit from deepening military cooperation with Russia as the two countries align in the face of their separate and increasingly intense confrontations with the United States.

The United States and South Korea have accused the North of providing artillery shells and other equipment to Russia to help boost its fighting capabilities in Ukraine.

Since its second nuclear test in 2009, Pyongyang has been under heavy international sanctions, but the development of its nuclear and weapons programs has continued unabated.