Navy Successfully Tests Ship-To-Ship Missile

Korea Herald

December 22, 2005

Navy Successfully Tests Ship-To-Ship Missile

By Jin Dae-woong

The Navy successfully completed test-firing the first domestically-made ship-to-ship missile, the Defense Ministry said yesterday. The 150-km-range missile was developed in 2003 by a domestic defense institution, the Agency for Defense Development.

Brig. Gen. An Jung-hun, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said the ministry and Navy together conducted the final test-firing of the indigenous missile on the East Sea before the military begins mass-production of the weapon in 2006.

During the test firing, the military also successfully tested the capabilities of the missile's domestically designed surveillance equipment.

"The military confirmed that the missile's surveillance equipment 'seeker' also successfully operated during the test-firing," An said. "Domestic seekers will replace exported ones."

When the missile was first developed in 2003, its surveillance equipment was supplied by foreign partner firms. Korea succeeded in developing the equipment this year.

The government has invested 100 billion won (about $98 million) in developing the missile since the development project was launched in 1996.

"We are expected to see as much as 900 billion won (about $870 million) of profits by substituting the imports with the domestic mass production," the spokesman said.

The missiles are scheduled to be onboard the Korean Navy's 4,000-ton vessels and 7,000-ton Aegis destroyers for marine operations by 2010.

The navy plans to invest more than 3 trillion won to build three Aegis ships by 2012.