Russian SLBM Shows Up In North Korea

[ErnstBlofeld]

The Strategy Page:

A recent military parade in North Korea featured the first public appearance of the long rumored RSM-25 (or Musudan) missile. This is a variant of the Russian SS-N-6 submarine launched missile. The North Korean version is believed to weigh 20 tons and have a range of over 3,000 kilometers. But there have been no tests, so it's uncertain if the North Koreans have been able to make the Russian design work for them.
The SS-N-6 is a 1960s vintage ballistic missile, and is known in Russia as the R-27. SS-N-6 is a NATO code name for the R-27. This was Russia's first true submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM), and sixteen of them were carried in Yankee class SSBNs (missile carrying nuclear submarines.) The 12 ton R-27 had a range of 2,800 kilometers and uses storable liquid fuel. This means it can be ready for launch in less than half an hour.

After the R-27 was replaced by more modern missiles in the 1970s, the missile continued to be used for scientific research until 1990. By that time, 492 R-27s had been launched, 87 percent of them successfully.

[ErnstBlofeld]

It is very possible that the North Koreans may have refurbished old Russian submarines to accomodate this SLBM. You can probably fire these missiles from a torpedo tube or from a cargo ship. Either way,the DPRK has vessels capable of striking US bases in Japan, Guam, Hawaii, or even targets on the West Coast.Between 1974 and 1990, 161 missile launches were conducted, with an average success rate of 93%

[ErnstBlofeld]

SS-N-6

[ErnstBlofeld]

SS-N-6 on a container ship