North Korea claims test of AI guided high speed torpedo

North Korea said on Saturday that it test fired a new high speed precision guided torpedo, the Jam-2.0, on October 15, with artificial intelligence used in its target search and guidance.

Why it matters: If the claimed performance is real, a fast AI guided torpedo would narrow the underwater gap with South Korea's navy, but the claim rests only on Pyongyang's own announcement, with no specifications or photographs released.

Data as of Korean Central News Agency announcement dated October 17, 2026, reported by Yonhap, in Korean, article opened and read in full. The test and the weapon's capabilities are North Korea's own claims, not independently verified, hence grade C. Developing item.

North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency said on Saturday that defence science institutes test fired a new torpedo weapon system, the Jam-2.0, underwater on October 15, and that artificial intelligence has been introduced into its target search and guidance functions. The agency said a rocket propulsion unit and core propulsion technology, developed over 180 tests in five years, were proved in the firing, and South Korean experts quoted by Yonhap said the rocket propulsion claim and the high speed name suggest a supercavitating torpedo.

No specifications or photographs were released, Kim Jong Un did not attend, and the report ran only in the external facing KCNA, not in the domestic Rodong Sinmun. Yonhap noted the test follows an October 14 firing of two strategic cruise missiles from a submarine, part of a push to close the naval gap with South Korea.

North Korea claims test of AI guided high speed torpedo

Sources