Robot Shooting Expert: North Korea has taken a step forward in arms development

Judging by the video clip on the shooting, North Korea's ballistic robot seems to be a new version of a gun missile robot, says Andreas Hörnedal.

- The advantage of such a robot is that it is more manageable. You get a much shorter response time when you get orders to shoot, says Andreas Hörnedal at FOI.

This week's incident, according to Andreas Hörnedal, indicates that North Korea feels more confident about firing robots from submarines, as they have previously been tested on land from a launch tube.

- If they have now dared to shoot sharply, it indicates that confidence has increased and that they are confident enough to do so. For North Korea, this is a step forward in arms development, says Anders Hörnedal.

Hörnedal adds that there are also data suggesting that North Korea is working intensively to miniaturize nuclear weapons and develop nuclear weapons, something that all the world's great powers are investing in.

These things are something that North Korea could possibly use for propaganda, says Andreas Hörnedal.

According to Andreas Hörnedal, robotically equipped submarines enable North Korea to behave more "hidden" - the country can fire a robot from an unexpected direction, which is valuable if one wants to penetrate another country's missile defense.

At the same time, the craft has some limitations.

- What you have seen on the only submarine that has had one or two launch tubes is that it has a limited radius of action. It can move so that it can shoot towards, for example, South Korea, Japan or China. But that it could cross the Pacific Ocean and lie off the US west coast is a good distance away, states Andreas Hörnedal.

Hörnedal does not want to speculate on what will happen next, but believes the event will not affect international agreements on ballistic robots.