A South Korean navy ‘Son Won II’ submarine.
South Korea has some foreign submarines. And they are on the verge of becoming miracle … and more powerful.
As part of a $ 250 billion sweeping, five-year defense plan, Seoul plans to develop a new class of offensive submarine with non-nuclear ballistic missiles.
Conventional ballistic missiles are a rarity in submarines. For missions on land attacks, most navies arm their submarines with cruise missiles, because cruise missiles are more accurate – though slower and less powerful – than ballistic missiles.
But Seoul has something, ahem, unique defense must because of the presence on its border of a heavily armed and bilingual nuclear state. South Korea’s submarines and their hard-hitting ballistic missiles give the country some skill to prevent a North Korean attack.
The South Korean fleet has an impressive 16 submarines, with more en route. There are eight Jang Bogoclassics – variants of the German Type 209 – plus nine Son Won IIs based on Germany’s Type 214.
A new class is under construction. At about 3,600 tons of displacement, the four Dosan Ahn Changhos is each about twice as large as the older submarines. That extra displacement makes room for vertical lance tubes that are compatible with cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.
The South Korean Ministry of Defense has been developing the Hyunmoo ballistic missile for non-nuclear attacks since the 1980s. A country version is already in service. A marine version with a range up to 500 miles is in the works. As many as six of the submarine-launched ballistic missiles could fit in one Dosan Ahn Chanhgo.
The SLBMs are for short-notice “kill chain” attacks on North Korea’s own ballistic missiles. “Moat a [North Korean] attack becomes clear, kill chain calls for the employment of strike forces to destroy North Korea’s nuclear, missile and long-range artillery facilities, ”noted the Washington, DC Center for Strategic and International Studies.
If South Korean intelligence discovered North Korean missiles deployed, perhaps for a nuclear strike, the Seoul submarines would attack – preemptively.
A Hyunmoo-2 test launch in 2017.
“The SLBM knows the accuracy of the [submarine-launched cruise missile], which is provided with a [sophisticated] management system, ”said retired South Korean Navy Admiral Kim Hyeok-soo. But “the speed and destructive power are significantly greater.”
“The commitment of the rapid and stealthy SLBM will enable the South Korean navy to deliver a blow to North Korea before the situation itself escalates to emergency levels,” Kim explained.
So important is this dead-chain doctrine to South Korea that the government is dubious. The new five-year defense plan includes another submarine class with even greater missile capacity than the Dosan Ahn Chanhgo has got.
“We have 3,600 and 4,000 tons of submarines in mind for development, far more advanced than those we have now,” said a Defense Department official. The Korea Herald.
The first Dosan Ahn Chanhgo is on course for commission in 2022. The new, larger submarines could follow in the late 2020s.
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