Discussion: While North Korea's naval ambitions are clear, it does not appear to have gone far enough to modernize or replace the backbone of its fleet of hundreds of aging gunboats, fast attack craft and patrol boats.
Kim Jong Un has his sights set on nuclear-powered submarines and large surface combatants... cool, but what about the swarms of P-6 torpedo boats and Chongjin-class gunboats? Will they be replaced, upgraded, or simply continue to exist because they... haven't sunk (yet)?
I mean, they clearly have the technology and even designs available domestically or easily accessible from abroad (Russia, China, Iran, etc.), they've even built a few of them... but they don't seem to be aiming to upgrade the entire fleet in any significant way. Like the VSV crafts have been built by the dozens, but torpedo boats continue to be in service.
Kim Jong Un has his sights set on nuclear-powered submarines and large surface combatants... cool, but what about the swarms of P-6 torpedo boats and Chongjin-class gunboats? Will they be replaced, upgraded, or simply continue to exist because they... haven't sunk (yet)?
I mean, they clearly have the technology and even designs available domestically or easily accessible from abroad (Russia, China, Iran, etc.), they've even built a few of them... but they don't seem to be aiming to upgrade the entire fleet in any significant way. Like the VSV crafts have been built by the dozens, but torpedo boats continue to be in service.
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