"Propulsion efficiency and rocket propulsion performance verified"
![KCNA reported Friday that North Korea's Missile General Bureau test-fired two types of submarine-launched strategic cruise missiles from the Donghae on Thursday. Based on the conning tower visible in released photos, the launch platform may be the "tactical nuclear attack submarine" Kim Kun Ok, commissioned in September 2023. The vessel appears to have employed both a vertical launch system and torpedo tubes — possibly capsule-type or underwater-ignition — simultaneously, marking the first time two types of missiles have been launched at once and the first launch from a Kim Kun Ok-class submarine in history. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/10/17/news-p.v1.20261015.ace26e65ac634a5bb0b84857ab477feb_P1.jpg)
North Korea has test-fired live rounds from its new high-speed precision-guided torpedo weapons system, designated "Jam-2.0," which incorporates AI-based target search and guidance functions.
KCNA reported Saturday that the Academy of Defense Science, the Missile General Bureau and the Torpedo Weapons Research Bureau conducted an underwater torpedo test launch Thursday to verify the technical advances of the new weapons system.
The agency said the test was "part of the normal activities of defense science research institutions aimed at advancing the technical sophistication of weapons systems."
Defense science research officials who observed the test were convinced the results "represent a great achievement heralding a significant change in the substantive development of the navy," KCNA added.
The new torpedo incorporates AI technology into its target search and guidance functions. KCNA added that the test verified core technologies developed over 180 trials across the past five years to improve propulsion efficiency, as well as the performance of the rocket propulsion system. However, the agency did not disclose detailed specifications of the torpedo.
The test launch was not reported in the Rodong Sinmun, the ruling Workers' Party newspaper read by North Korean citizens, and appeared only in KCNA, which targets overseas audiences.
On Wednesday, North Korea test-fired two types of strategic cruise missiles from both vertical launch tubes and torpedo tubes aboard a submarine believed to be the Kim Kun Ok (3,000-ton class) in the Donghae. Pyongyang has also recently commissioned two 5,000-ton destroyers — the Choe Hyon Ho and the Kang Gon Ho — into its West Sea and East Sea fleets, respectively.
spa@heraldcorp.com
