S.Korea Unveils Homegrown Cruise Missiles
Maybe the Japanese will buy some... | The Defense Ministry on Thursday responded to North Korea's recent nuclear test by unveiling ship-to-shore and submarine-to-ground cruise missiles that have already been deployed warfare-ready.
Dubbed the Haeseong-2 and Haeseong-3, respectively, the missiles have been developed with South Korea's own technology. They are both modified versions of a surface-to-surface cruise missile unveiled last year but are designed to be launched from a ship or a submarine. Their maximum range of 1,000 km covers all of North Korea.
The Haeseong-3 is a strategic weapon capable of being launched from a submarine that can stealthily approach the North Korean coast. Only a handful of countries have their own similar missiles. They include the U.S. (Tomahawk), the U.K. (Tomahawk), Russia (Klub-S), France (SCALP Naval), China, and India. The missiles are said to be so accurate that they can hit a window-size target of 1-3 sq.m, and powerful enough to pulverize a soccer field-size area to rubble.
The Haeseong-3 will be carried by a new Type 214 submarine, and the Haeseong-2 on a 4,500 ton-class Korean Destroyer (KD) vessel or a 7,600 ton-class Aegis destroyer.
The Haeseong-3 is subsonic and takes about 20 minutes to fly up to 1,000 km. It would be launched from the torpedo tube of a submarine in a waterproof capsule. When the capsule breaks the water surface, its nosecap is blown off and the missile pops out.
The Haeseong-2 would be fired from a vertical launch tube. The King Sejong the Great Aegis destroyer carries 32 Haeseong-2s.
Maj. Gen. Yoo Young-jo of the Defense Ministry said, "Ship-to-shore and submarine-to-ground missiles are primary strike assets in the operational environment off the Korean Peninsula."
Posted by: Steve White 2013-02-22 |