Hyunmoo-3

Hyunmoo-3 cruise missile
Hyunmoo-3 missiles on KM1500 transporter erector launchers
Type	Long-range, all-weather, cruise missile
Place of origin	South Korea
Service history
Used by	Republic of Korea Army Republic of Korea Navy
Production history
Designer	Agency for Defense Development LIG Nex1
Manufacturer	LIG Nex1 , Hanwha Techwin Samsung for engine
Variants	Hyunmoo-3A Hyunmoo-3B Hyunmoo-3C
Specifications
Mass	1.5 tons (3A)[1]
Length	6 meters (19 feet) (3A)[1]
Warhead	Conventional: 500 kg conventional explosive
Engine	Samsung Hanwha Techwin (or Daewoo Doosan) (SSM-760K ?) turbofan[1]
Operational range	Hyunmoo-3A - 500 km Hyunmoo-3B - 1,000 km Hyunmoo-3C - 1,500 km
Maximum speed	Mach 1.2 [2]
Guidance system	INS, GPS, Terrain Contour Matching[1][3]

The Hyunmoo-3 is a new cruise missile that is to be fielded by the South Korean military. It is designed by Agency for Defense Development (ADD). The name Hyunmoo (Korean: 현무) comes from a mythical beast^[3] described as the "Guardian of the Northern Sky", perhaps hinting North Korea.

Design and development[]

As a signatory of the multilateral Missile Technology Control Regime, South Korea agrees to refrain from importing a non-indigenous ballistic missile with a warhead larger than 500 kg, or a range of more than 300 km.^[4] In addition, a bilateral agreement between the ROK and US limits indigenous South Korean produced missiles to no more than 500 miles in range, and warheads no larger than 1,100 lbs. (In September 2017, the presidents of the ROK and the US agreed “in principle” to lift these bilateral limits, increasing the possibility of a longer-range, more powerful Hyunmoo-4 in the future.)^[5]

Therefore, a heavy emphasis was put on developing long-range cruise missiles by the South Korean government. With the introduction of Hyunmoo-3, which also has some advanced systems sometimes found on ICBMs^{[citation needed]}, the Republic of Korea Army created the Missile Command in order to efficiently manage these missiles.

Hyunmoo-3 bears no resemblance to the previous Hyunmoo SSM, which were improved versions of Nike Hercules surface-to-air missiles that were converted into short-range high-speed surface-to-surface ballistic missiles in response to North Korea's Scud-B and Nodong-1 missile threats. Instead, the new missile's designs are strikingly similar to the United States Tomahawk cruise missile. It is powered by a turbofan engine, and has a maximum payload of 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) of conventional explosive. The guidance systems consist of Inertial guidance system and Global Positioning System.

Hyunmoo-3A, which was nicknamed "Eagle-1" (독수리-1) during the testing, has a range of 500 km, while Hyunmoo-3B, nicknamed "Eagle-2" (독수리-2) Cheonryong (천룡 순항 미사일), has a range of 1,000 km. Hyunmoo-3C, or "Eagle-3" (독수리-3), will be capable of striking its target up to 1,500 km away. This is a significant improvement from Hyunmoo I which had a range of 180 km and Hyunmoo-2A, which only has a range of 300 km, both of which were ballistic and not cruise missiles.

Sejong the Great-class destroyers and KSS-III class submarines will be equipped with these Chonryong^[6][7] submarine-launched cruise missiles inside their Vertical Launching System (K-VLS).^[1]

A Hyunmoo-3B air-launched cruise missile with over 500 km range exists and it is called Boramae.^[1][7][6]

A cruise missile called the Haeseong III is designed to be launched underwater from submarines.^[8] It is actually the designation for the Hyunmoo-3 cruise missile when launched from a submarine and is unrelated to the SSM-700K Haeseong missile design.^[9]

Operators[]

•  South Korea
  • Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin-class destroyer (KDX-II)^[10]
  • Sejong the Great class destroyer (KDX-III)^[11]
  • Son Won-il class submarine (KSS-II)^[12]

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hyunmoo-3.