Photo by South Korean Defense Ministry shows debris flying in the air as a new South Korean ballistic missile was launched at an undisclosed location in South Korea last year.
Shown in pictures are Republic of South Korea Navy's destroyer, Sejong The Great (DDG 991) and Republic of Korea Submarine Chang Bogo (SSK 61) shown heading out to sea during a Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise. Both will be fitted with Hyunmoo-3 cruise missiles.
Photo credit: U. S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class David A. Levy (RELEASED)
Photo credit: U. S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class David A. Levy (RELEASED)
News reports have it that South Korea has begun fitting its naval destroyers with a new, indigenously-developed cruise missiles capable of making precision strikes anywhere in North Korea.
Hyunmu 3C is a Tomahawk-style cruise missile. In a report last year following the first long range cruise missile test by South Korea, Major General Shin Wok-sin of the South Korean military said the new domestically-produced missile "has a radius of action of over 1,000 kilometers" and can carry out a strike on any object in the DPRK (North Korea).
"Maintaining military readiness with long-range missiles, our military will be able to decisively reply to any provocation from North Korea," he added.
Seoul has been developing the 1,500 km range Hyunmu-3C class of cruise missiles since 2010. The South Korean military also has the following missiles in its armory: the 500 km-range Hyunmu 3A and 1,000 km-range Hyunmu-3B and tactical missiles with a range of 300 km in service.
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REPORTS:
SEOUL: South Korea has begun fitting naval destroyers with a new, indigenously-developed cruise missile capable of making precision strikes anywhere in North Korea, a news report said Friday.
Yonhap news agency quoted a senior military official as saying the South had armed two destroyers with 32 of its Hyunmu 3C Tomahawk-style cruise missiles.
The missiles have a range of 400 kilometres (250 miles) and are capable of reaching targets in the farthest corners of North Korea within a three-metre (nine foot) degree of accuracy, the report said.
The unidentified military official said the deployment was partly a response to North Korea's strengthened naval presence off the peninsula's west coast.The North recently completed a military hovercraft base at Koampo on its southwestern coast, which could be used to attack South Korean islands near the disputed Yellow Sea border.
The maritime boundary was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999, 2002 and 2009.
Seoul strengthened its troop presence and upgraded its weaponry on a number of "frontline" islands following North Korea's shelling exactly two years ago of Yeonpyeong island that killed two South Korean marines and two civilians.
The border is not recognised by Pyongyang, which argues it was unilaterally drawn up by the US-led United Nations forces after the 1950-53 Korean war.
- AFP/xq For full report, check Channel Asia report here.
From Newstrack India: South Korea deploys cruise missiles to deter DPRK threat
"We have deployed a cruise missile that can strike any and all parts of North Korea (DPRK)," Seoul's defense ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters at a press briefing.
"And we will also speed up the development of ballistic missiles with a range of 800 kilometers, based on the revised missile pact (with the United States)," Kim said, adding the country will also build a missile defense system called the Korean Air and Missile Defense.
Under a deal revised last year with the United States, South Korea is allowed to develop ballistic missiles with a range of up to 800 kilometers, more than double the previous limit.
From Ria Novosti MOSCOW, April 19 2012:South Korea has put into service a new long-range cruise missile, capable of striking missile sites or nuclear installations in any part of neighboring North Korea, local news agency Yonhap said on Thursday quoting a general in the South Korean defense ministry.
The new domestically-produced missile "has a radius of action of over 1,000 kilometers" and can carry out a strike on any object in the DPRK, Major General Shin Won-sik said.
"Maintaining military readiness with long-range missiles, our military will be able to decisively reply to any provocation from North Korea," he said.
The South Korean military did not name the new weapon, but Seoul has been developing the 1,500 km range Hyunmu-3C class of cruise missiles since 2010. Seoul also has in its armory the 500 km-range Hyunmu 3A and 1,000 km-range Hyunmu-3B.
Seoul also has tactical missiles with a range of 300 km in service, Shin said.The announcement by Seoul comes at a time of increased tension with the North, following afailed rocket launch there on April 13 and apparent preparations for a third nuclear weapon test.
North Korea declared itself a nuclear power in 2005 and carried out test explosions of such weapons in 2006 and 2009. The UN imposed sanctions in response, under Security Council resolutions 1718 and 1874.
More on Hyunmoo Cruise Missiles
Hyunmoo-3 is a new cruise missile that is to be fielded with the military of Republic of Korea. It is designed by Agency for Defense Development (ADD).
The name Hyunmoo (Hangul: 현무) comes from a mythical beast described as the "Guardian of the Northern Sky", perhaps hinting North Korea.
Hyunmoo-3 bears no resemblance to the previous Hyunmoo SSM, which were improved versions of Nike Hercules surface-to-air missiles that were converted into short-range high-speed surface-to-surface ballistic missiles in response to North Korea's Scud-B and Nodong-1 missile threats. Instead, the new missile's designs are strikingly similar to the United States Tomahawk cruise missile and also the Babur cruise missile of the Pakistan military.
Hyunmoo-3A, which was nicknamed "Eagle-1" (독수리-1) during the testing, has a range of 500 km, while Hyunmoo-3B, nicknamed "Eagle-2" (독수리-2), has a range of 1,000 km. Hyunmoo-3C, or "Eagle-3" (독수리-3), will be capable of striking its target up to 1,500 km away. This is a significant improvement from Hyunmoo I which had a range of 180 km and Hyunmoo-2, which only has a range of 300 km, both of which were ballistic and not cruise missiles.
It is powered by a turbofan engine, much like other subsonic cruise missiles of its type, and has a payload of up to 500 kilograms. The guidance systems consist of Inertial Guidance System and Global Positioning System.
The maximum payload of the missile is rated at 500 kilograms of conventional explosive.
King Sejong the Great class destroyers and KSS-III class submarines will be equipped with these missiles inside their Vertical Launching System (K-VLS).
South Korea is barred from producing a non-indigenous ballistic missile that is above a certain payload and range limit in accordance to Missile Technology Control Regime.
Therefore, a heavy emphasis was put on for developing long-range cruise missiles by the South Korean government, as there is no restriction of payload amount and range limit set for them. With the introduction of Hyunmoo-III, which also has some advanced systems sometimes found on ICBMs, the Republic of Korea Army created the Missile Command in order to efficiently manage these missiles.
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