QUOTE
The Navy is being equipped with domestically produced ship-to-ship missiles and torpedoes produced with homegrown technology. New-model weaponry that recently went into service includes the Haesung (Sea Star) anti-ship missile, the portable anti-aircraft missile Singung and the Cheongsangeo (Blue Shark) torpedo. The Agency for Defense Development held a ceremony celebrating the deployment of the new weaponry at the Gumi factory of defense contractor NEX 1 Future, with Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung, the National Assembly's Defense Committee chairman Yoo Jay-kun and Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Nam Hae-il in attendance.
W100 billion (US$100 million) has been poured into development of the Haesung cruise missile between 1996 and 2003. Its effective radius is around 150 km. Launched off a warship, submarine or aircraft, the weapon can strike any vessel and even land targets within its 400-500 km range. The missile, which has a longer range than the Styx anti-ship missile and is more accurate, flies just above the surface and is thus difficult to intercept.
The portable anti-aircraft missile Singung was developed over eight years starting in 1995 with a W70 billion budget. It has a 7 km maximum target range and flies at a maximum altitude of 3.5 km and maximum speed of mach 2. The Singung is designed to automatically explode against a target flying within a radius of 1.5 m, shattering into hundreds of pieces while shooting down a target. It is mainly intended to bring down enemy aircraft and helicopter that infiltrate at low altitude. It boasts more than 90 percent accuracy and comes at a unit price of W180 million. According to the Defense Ministry, the missile is lighter and more accurate than the Stinger missile of the U.S., Russia’s Igla and France’s Mistral.
The Blue Shark is a new anti-submarine lightweight torpedo that can be launched both at sea and from the air, the seventh such weapon of this kind in the world. Over the last 10 years, W50 billion went into the project. The torpedo measures 32 cm in diameter, 2.7 m in length and weighs 280 kg. Traveling at a maximum speed of 45 knots (83 km/h), it can penetrate an iron sheet of 1.5 m thickness.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
W100 billion (US$100 million) has been poured into development of the Haesung cruise missile between 1996 and 2003. Its effective radius is around 150 km. Launched off a warship, submarine or aircraft, the weapon can strike any vessel and even land targets within its 400-500 km range. The missile, which has a longer range than the Styx anti-ship missile and is more accurate, flies just above the surface and is thus difficult to intercept.
The portable anti-aircraft missile Singung was developed over eight years starting in 1995 with a W70 billion budget. It has a 7 km maximum target range and flies at a maximum altitude of 3.5 km and maximum speed of mach 2. The Singung is designed to automatically explode against a target flying within a radius of 1.5 m, shattering into hundreds of pieces while shooting down a target. It is mainly intended to bring down enemy aircraft and helicopter that infiltrate at low altitude. It boasts more than 90 percent accuracy and comes at a unit price of W180 million. According to the Defense Ministry, the missile is lighter and more accurate than the Stinger missile of the U.S., Russia’s Igla and France’s Mistral.
The Blue Shark is a new anti-submarine lightweight torpedo that can be launched both at sea and from the air, the seventh such weapon of this kind in the world. Over the last 10 years, W50 billion went into the project. The torpedo measures 32 cm in diameter, 2.7 m in length and weighs 280 kg. Traveling at a maximum speed of 45 knots (83 km/h), it can penetrate an iron sheet of 1.5 m thickness.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
