The Ghadir Iranian Domestic Sub? Iran paying North Korea for development of midget submarines

In Nov 2007 Villagers with Torches published this.

Now through Bill Gertz’s publication set we find this:

Western intelligence sources said Iran and North Korea have exchanged technology and expertise on the development and assembly of so-called midget submarines. They said Iran has provided financing for North Korean development as well as tested several prototypes since 2008.

“The arrangement is simple: Iran pays for North Korean development and gets the first platforms off the production line,” an intelligence source said.

Daedong-B midget submarine.

The sources said Iran has been testing North Korean-developed midget submarines with attack capabilities. They said Pyongyang has produced the Daedong-B, which measures 17 meters and designed to contain torpedos.

Daedong-B, with a width of four meters and height of two 2.2 meters, was tested in North Korea in 2010. The sources said North Korea invited Iranian Navy and defense officials for briefings on the submarine trials.

“As has been amply demonstrated by the navies of North Korea and Iran, these small vessels make good platforms for ambushes even at submerged depths of 150 feet, enough room for the midget submersible to maneuver,” the U.S. consultant, Forecast International, said.

“These submarines cannot travel too far on their own, and depend on support vessels to extend their range. However, in their shallow water element where sonar returns are cluttered, they can prove quiet and deadly. Their capabilities include the ability to lay mines or insert commandos on beaches.”

On Dec. 7, the South Korean daily JoongAng quoted intelligence sources as saying that Western satellites have tracked North Korean trials of Daedong-B. The newspaper said Daedong-B has already been armed with torpedo launch tubes that measure four meters.

“Intense military exercises with the midget submarines were conducted by North Korea in July, and recently while South Korean and U.S. troops were holding joint exercises,” a South Korean intelligence official said.

Iran was said to have already procured North Korea’s Yono-class mini-submarine. The sources said the Iranian Defense Ministry renamed the platform when introduced into service in 2010.

The sources said Yono and Daedong-B could play a major role in any Iranian Navy attack on merchant ships and Western naval vessels in the Gulf.

They said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, adopting Pyongyang’s strategy against South Korea, was developing attack operations that could not be traced to Teheran.