Source : BRICS NEWS (AI-generated illustration)
SEOUL, November 1 – North Korea has tested a cluster-bomb warhead designed to be mounted on tactical ballistic missiles and says it will make four types of such warheads available to its military units before the end of the year, state media reported on Sunday.
The news aggregator BRICS News reported on X early on November 1, 2026, Malaysia time, that North Korea said it had conducted a major weapons system test. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), in a report headlined “Defence Science Research Institutes of DPRK Test Major Weapon System”, said the country’s Missile Administration carried out the test on October 31 to assess the combat adaptation and power of a cluster-bomb warhead to be tipped on tactical ballistic missiles.
’12 to 13 hectares’
The test was overseen by Full General Kim Jong Sik, a member of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea and first vice department director of the party’s Central Committee, KCNA said. The Ballistic Missile System Institute and the Warhead Institute of the Missile Administration said they confirmed that the “Standard Type 2” cluster-bomb warhead is capable of “turning into ashes a target area of 12 to 13 hectares with its highest-density power”.
“We classify the cluster-bomb warheads into four categories according to special and standard purposes. Within this year we will enable units to select and use all those types according to operational aims and specific features of targets,” the general director of the Missile Administration was quoted as saying. KCNA described the test as part of regular scientific research activities aimed at boosting the power of combat systems.
Seoul says it tracked the launch
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had detected a missile fired by North Korea from the Jongju area of North Phyongan Province into the West Sea on Saturday, and that South Korea and the United States had tracked related movements before the launch through close intelligence sharing, Yonhap News Agency reported. The military had not announced the launch on the day, and Japan’s Defence Ministry also made no announcement, Yonhap said, suggesting the missile was fired at a reduced range and altitude for the warhead test.
Photos released by KCNA showed the missile launch, the warhead bursting in mid-air to scatter submunitions, and widespread explosions across a target area, Yonhap reported. Arch-roofed structures on a target island, believed to resemble South Korean aircraft hangars, ammunition depots or artillery positions, were seen being destroyed. Shin Jong-woo, secretary-general of the Korea Defence and Security Forum, said the missile appeared to be the Hwasong-11Na, known as KN-24 and dubbed North Korea’s version of the US ATACMS.
A cluster bomb releases dozens to hundreds of submunitions, allowing it to strike multiple targets over a wide area. KCNA did not give the missile’s flight distance, launch site or time, and the report was not carried in the party newspaper Rodong Sinmun, which is read by the North Korean public, Yonhap noted.
Second cluster test this year
The test follows a launch in April in which North Korea said it tested cluster bombs mounted on the Hwasong-11 Ra tactical ballistic missile, overseen by leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Ju Ae. At the time, Kim said that increasing high-density strike capability against specific target areas held great significance for military action, according to Yonhap. LNA will continue to follow developments.
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