North Korea test-fires new AI-guided torpedo, experts point out technology "cover door"

North Korea's official media stated on the 17th that it had test-fired a "new" precision-guided torpedo system that applies artificial intelligence (AI) technology to target detection and guidance functions. However, experts point out that the ultra-high-speed torpedo claimed by North Korea still has important technical problems to be overcome.

Agence France-Presse quoted the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as reporting on the 17th that the ultra-high-speed torpedo "Zam-2.0" (Zam-2.0, tentative translation) was test-fired underwater on the 15th, confirming the success of the technology upgrade and verifying "the core technology to improve propulsion efficiency and rocket propulsion device performance." According to the report, more than 180 different forms of testing of this new torpedo system have been completed in the past five years.

North Korea has recently stepped up its weapons testing activities, including testing two submarine-launched cruise missiles and testing a medium-range hypersonic missile using AI-assisted technology. The country's leader, Kim Jong Un, stressed in September that it was necessary to improve the "artificial intelligence level" of weapons systems.

Analysts point out that torpedoes are used for underwater high-speed attacks, and North Korea claims to have introduced AI technology that may allow the torpedoes to have the ability to evade maneuvers and make decisions independently to confuse the enemy. Lim Eul-chul, an expert on North Korea at Kyungnam University in South Korea, said that both South Korea and the United States deploy decoys to interfere with enemy torpedoes. "AI may help distinguish real targets from decoys." He pointed out that from torpedoes to submarine-launched weapons, "Pyongyang is investing resources to demonstrate that it can disable the US military's strategic assets."

However, Yang Moo-jin, former president of North Korea Graduate University in Seoul, believes that torpedoes produce a lot of noise when sailing at high speed underwater and are easily detected. Reducing noise requires advanced technology and is a major technical challenge. "North Korea does not seem to have reached this level yet."