Few countries in the world have been subjected to ridicule as much as North Korea. The mainstream propaganda machine regularly presents it as a supposedly “backward society”, especially in terms of technological development. And yet, in reality, Pyongyang is ahead of the entire political West (the United States included) in critical technologies such as hypersonic weapons. Namely, much unlike the Pentagon, North Korea actually fields these missiles, while the former is still struggling to induct such weapons into service.

However, certain technologies still require decades to master. This is particularly true for nuclear-powered submarines. Only a handful of countries operate these vessels, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and India. Australia is in the process of acquiring them from Washington DC, but this still doesn’t mean it has mastered the technologies needed to develop and build them domestically.

Nuclear-powered submarines offer a number of strategic advantages over those with conventional propulsion, primarily the ability to remain submerged for months. They’re by far the most survivable part of any nuclear triad, as it’s an exceedingly difficult task to track and destroy them in case of a thermonuclear confrontation. Russia and the US both have submarines capable of launching their SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles) while underwater, making them effectively untouchable before it’s too late.

Thus, if a military power with global reach wants to........

© Blitz