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SEOUL, Oct. 17 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Saturday it has conducted an underwater test of a new high-speed precision-guided torpedo weapon system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology, noting that the test heralds a "significant" change in the North's naval capabilities.
North Korea test-fired the Zam-2.0 super-speed precision-guided torpedo weapon system Thursday to confirm the successful technical upgrade of the weapon, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). It did not disclose further details of the weapon.
Key national defense officials who oversaw the weapon test assessed that it "served as a great success foreseeing a significant change in the actual development of the Navy," the KCNA said.
North Korea said AI technology was applied to the target detection and the guidance function of the torpedo.
"The test proved the core technology for raising the efficiency of propulsion and the performance of rocket propulsion devices," the KCNA said, adding more than 180 rounds of related tests have been conducted over the past five years.
Experts said the newly disclosed weapon system could be a "supercavitating torpedo" given the North's claims that rocket propulsion devices were fitted on the torpedo, and the term "super-speed" used to describe the new torpedo.
A supercavitating torpedo is an ultra-high-speed torpedo that creates an air bubble in the nose to overcome water resistance and travel at higher speeds than conventional torpedoes.
Other countries pursuing the development of such high-speed torpedoes have reportedly faced technical challenges in operational deployment, particularly in maintaining effective guidance and control at high speeds underwater.
"The test launch appears to have been intended to flaunt its super-speed AI-driven torpedo, which is difficult to detect in advance and avoid, targeting the South Korean Navy's major surface ships," said Lim Eul-chul, a professor of the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University.
Shin Jong-woo, secretary-general of the Korea Defense and Security Forum, assessed that North Korea is developing new torpedoes to be mounted on submarines in line with the expansion of its new submarine capabilities.
"It is an attempt to narrow the gap in military capabilities with the South Korean Navy," he said.
North Korea has been pushing to strengthen its naval capabilities with weapon tests.
Pyongyang launched two types of strategic cruise missiles from what was presumed to be a 3,000-ton submarine in the East Sea on Wednesday. It also recently commissioned the 5,000-ton Choe Hyon and Kang Kon destroyers, respectively in the West Sea and the East Sea.
This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 15, 2026, shows the North firing two types of strategic cruise missiles from a submarine the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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