North Korea test-fired strategic cruise missiles and anti-warship missiles from the destroyer Choe Hyon, state media reported Tuesday. The missile test, as seen in this image, took place Sunday from an undisclosed location. Photo by KCNA/EPA
SEOUL, April 14 (UPI) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test-firing of strategic cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles from a 5,000-ton naval destroyer, state media reported Tuesday, as he called bolstering nuclear deterrence the country’s “most important priority task.”
The North’s Choe Hyon destroyer launched two cruise missiles and three anti-ship missiles at island targets in the Yellow Sea on Sunday, the official Korean Central News Agency said.
The cruise missiles flew for roughly two hours and 12 minutes before striking their targets, KCNA said, while the anti-ship missiles flew for about 33 minutes.
The test was “aimed at checking the launching control line of the warship’s integrated weapon commanding system … as well as confirming the accuracy and the rate of hits of the improved active anti-jamming navigation system,” KCNA reported.
Pyongyang described the cruise missiles as “strategic,” a term it typically uses for systems capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Kim observed the test-firing alongside senior defense officials and naval officers, KCNA said. Images published by state media showed Kim and the officials watching from an unspecified pier.
KCNA quoted Kim as saying the North’s “most important priority task [is] to steadily and unlimitedly bolster up the powerful and reliable nuclear war deterrent.”
“He clarified the important tasks for further strengthening the strategic and tactical attack capability, a key component of the nuclear war deterrent,” KCNA added.
Kim observed a pair of similar test launches last month, involving cruise missiles only.
Sunday’s expanded test may indicate the destroyer is nearing deployment, an official from South Korea’s Unification Ministry told Yonhap News Agency and other local reporters.
“It appears to be a final check of the weapons system if the test took place before the delivery of the Choe Hyon to the Navy,” the official said.
Pyongyang launched the Choe Hyon, its first 5,000-ton destroyer, last April, as Kim called for strengthening the country’s naval capabilities. Photos released by state media show the ship’s missile and radar systems resembling those found on Russian vessels, prompting speculation that Pyongyang received technical assistance from Moscow.
North Korea has deployed troops, artillery and weapons to support Russia’s war in Ukraine and is believed to be receiving financial support and advanced military technology in return.
A second destroyer, the Kang Kon, suffered an accident during its launch ceremony last year that left it listing on its side before it was repaired and relaunched in June.
KCNA said Kim was also briefed on plans for the weapons systems of two more destroyers currently under construction.
South Korean Rep. Yoo Yong-won of the People Power Party said earlier this month that commercial satellite imagery showed North Korea accelerating construction of a new warship at a shipyard in the western port city of Nampho.
“North Korea appears to be accelerating the modernization of its navy on the back of military technology assistance from Russia,” Yoo said.
Kim Jong Un has ordered a third 5,000-ton destroyer to be completed by Oct. 10, the anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea.
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The U.S. Air Force is now reportedly dropping its newest bunker-buster bomb, the 5,000-pound class GBU-72/B, on targets in Iran. The bombs are said to have been used in strikes on hardened Iranian anti-ship cruise missile sites along the highly strategic Strait of Hormuz overnight.
There are also reports that this is the first time GBU-72/Bs have been used in combat, but it is not clear if this is the case.
“Hours ago, U.S. forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz,” U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) wrote in a post on X, which did not name the munitions in question, last night. “The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the strait.”
Hours ago, U.S. forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the… pic.twitter.com/hgCSFH0cqO
“US official confirms this was the GBU-72 Advanced 5K Penetrator,” CNN‘s Haley Britzky subsequently wrote on X. Fox News has also now reported the use of GBU-72/Bs in last night’s strikes.
Israel kills Iran’s intelligence chief, U.S. jets drop new 5,000 lb. bunker buster bombs on anti-ship missile storage sites, Iran fires 13 more ballistic missiles and 27 drones here at UAE: pic.twitter.com/eAYu5JMN7A
Whether or not the GBU-72/B has been employed in combat previously is unclear. In 2024, CBS News reported that the Air Force had employed the bombs in strikes on an underground facility belonging to Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, citing unnamed officials. Fox News also reported again just today that the A5K’s first use had come during previous strikes on the Houthis.
There have also been reports in the past that Israel has at least sought to acquire GBU-72/B, but whether any have been delivered to that country is unknown. It is also still not known what munitions were used in strikes that left three very large and precise holes on the top of a site long linked to Iran’s nuclear program last week. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said they struck that facility, but that does not automatically mean that U.S. forces did not do so, as well.
When reached by TWZ, CENTCOM declined to comment on the specific munitions used in last night’s strikes along the Strait of Hormuz.
The GBU-72/B was developed to replace the older GBU-28/B, which first entered service in 1991. The GBU-28/B is another 5,000-pound class bunker buster, and it is unclear to what degree it remains in U.S. inventory.
An F-15E Strike Eagle drops a GBU-28/B bunker-buster bomb. USAF
What aircraft are currently cleared to employ the GBU-72/B operationally is also not clear. In 2021, the Air Force announced the successful release of an A5K from an F-15E Strike Eagle in testing. In 2024, pictures emerged of a B-1 bomber carrying one of the bombs on an external pylon under the forward fuselage in another apparent test. The Air Force has also raised the possibility of integrating the GBU-72/B onto the B-2 bomber in the past. F-15Es, B-1s, and B-2s are among the aircraft the U.S. military has been using to carry out strikes on targets in Iran.
An F-15E drops a GBU-72/B in a test. USAF
In terms of the bomb itself, the A5K combines a BLU-138/B penetrating warhead with a tail kit containing a GPS-assisted inertial navigation system (INS) guidance system. The tail kit is a variant of the one used on 2,000-pound class Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) precision guided bombs. Markings seen on live BLU-138/Bs in imagery the Air Force has previously released show that each warhead weighs around 4,422 pounds, with approximately 1,066.8 pounds of that being a combination of PBXN-109 and AFX-757 explosives. As an aside, those are the same two types of explosives used in the much larger 30,000-pound class BLU-127/B warhead for the GBU-57/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bunker buster bomb.
“With enhanced survivability, increased lethality, smart fuzing and utilization of fielded JDAM Navigation tailkits, the GBU-72 significantly improved performance reducing the number of weapons required to achieve a kill at lower AUR [all-up-round] cost,” according to Air Force budget documents. “A5K will replace the GBU-28.”
While the precise capabilities of the Air Force’s various bunker-busting munitions are a closely guarded secret, the original GBU-28/B bomb reportedly had the ability to penetrate through more than 150 feet of earth and at least 15 feet of reinforced concrete. In some cases, multiple bunker busters can also be dropped on the same aim point in succession to help burrow deeper down to the desired depth.
An old but still interesting graphic compares the capabilities of the BLU-109/B bunker-buster warheads found on certain variants of the GBU-31/B, as well as the GBU-28/B and the much larger GBU-57/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator. DOD via GlobalSecurity.org
No shortages of GBU-31 2,000lb JDAM bunker busters at RAF Fairford. Some more pictures from yesterday. Many appeared to be loaded on or around B-52s from what I saw – with the B1-bs positioned further away from my viewing point. No idea what the Bones were loaded up with. All… pic.twitter.com/AAxlXwUZWc
A stock picture of GBU-31/Bs with bunker-buster warheads. USAF
With all this in mind, the GBU-72/B does offer the U.S. military a way to get after deeply buried or otherwise hardened targets in Iran (and anywhere else) that are beyond the reach of the BLU-109/B without having to use GBU-57/Bs. The MOP inventory is understood to be relatively small and largely reserved for use against very high-priority targets. Using GBU-72/Bs could also help ensure the destruction of a target, and do so with a smaller number of total munitions, compared to a strike employing 2,000-pound-class bunker busters.
A picture of the arena test of the warhead for the 5,000-pound-class GBU-72 bunker-buster bomb. USAF
Regardless of the munitions used, U.S. strikes targeting Iranian anti-ship cruise missile sites on the edge of the Strait of Hormuz speak to efforts now to reopen that critical waterway to regular maritime traffic. So far, we have not seen any clear evidence of Iran using its arsenal of thousands of anti-ship cruise missiles, which could turn the Strait into a super weapons engagement zone. Many of these missiles can also be launched from the backs of trucks that are hard to distinguish from civilian types.
#Iran is permitting exit of the Gulf to select ships. But what is the rationale?
At least 5 vessels have transited outbound via the #StraitofHormuz in the past 48hrs but are taking an unusual route inside Iranian Territorial Waters.
89 ships got through Hormuz March 1st-15th. “More than one-fifth of the 89 vessels were believed to be Iran-affiliated, while Chinese and Greece affiliated ships are among the rest, it said.” https://t.co/c7DzauV8ya
“I wonder what would happen if we ‘finished off’ what’s left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don’t, be responsible for the so called ‘Straight?’ [sic],” Trump wrote today in a post on his Truth Social site. “That would get some of our non-responsive ‘Allies’ in gear, and fast!!!”
Trump: “I wonder what would happen if we ‘finished off’ what’s left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don’t, be responsible for the so called ‘Straight?’ That would get some of our non-responsive ‘Allies’ in gear, and fast!!! President DJT” pic.twitter.com/pwbF1lYELS
A further uptick in strikes on Iranian targets along the Strait of Hormuz, including deeply buried and hardened sites that could necessitate the use of GBU-72/Bs, may now be on the horizon.
