According to local reports, the Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN) has successfully conducted an underwater ejection test of a locally-developed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) from its new KSS-III diesel-electric submarine.
The authoritative Yonhap News Agency reported on September 7 that the SLBM test was conducted by the National Defense Development Agency (ADD) from the KSS-III class submarine ROKS the previous week. Dosan An Changho Similar tests have been conducted using underwater barges in recent months.
Dosan An Changho It was put into use only recently on August 13, and it is the first batch of nine 3,000-ton KSS-III SSK fleets that are planned to enter the RoKN fleet by 2029. The construction is carried out in three batches. Each batch will include three ships, and subsequent submarines will use more advanced technology.
The ship is 83.5 m long and has a displacement of 3,705 tons when submerged. It is equipped with a hydrogen fuel cell-based air-independent propulsion (AIP) system, which can extend the endurance time, the maximum specified speed is 20 knots, and the cruising range is 10,000 nautical miles.
Each batch of Series 1 KSS-III submarines is equipped with a six-unit vertical launch system (VLS), which can deploy a variety of missiles.
Military sources told Yonhap News that the new SLBM named Hyunmoo 4-4 is reportedly expected to start production after further testing. It is believed that the missile originated from the Hyunmoo-2B ballistic missile with a range of 500 kilometers.
The latest development comes after news that South Korea is in the advanced stage of developing a large surface-to-surface missile (SSM) with a 3,000-kg warhead and a range between 350 and 400 kilometers.
The unnamed SSM, which is said to be “as powerful as a tactical nuclear weapon,” is in the final stages of development and can be deployed in 2026 after several planned test fires. If the range profile of the weapon is deployed from the border between divided countries, Seoul can also target any area in North Korea, which has been technically in a state of war since the armistice in 1953.
On May 21, after the bilateral summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden in Washington, the US-South Korea ballistic missile guidelines were terminated in 1979. The development of such large and powerful missiles was not allowed until recently.
Xiao Wu
