[Mid-term Plan Key Point] ⑥ Increasing Production of Hyunmoo-4 Targeting North Korean Command Units

Significant Enhancement of Missile Forces by Increasing Production of Ballistic and Cruise Missiles
Hyunmoo-4 Expected to Enter Mass Production Next Year, Comparable in Power to Tactical Nuclear Weapons

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The Ministry of National Defense has decided to significantly strengthen its missile capabilities. This includes increasing the number of Hyunmoo-4 ballistic missiles with an 800km range capable of preemptive strikes against North Korea, cruise missiles, as well as interceptor missiles to defend against North Korean missiles.

On the 10th, the Ministry of National Defense announced that it had established the 2021-2025 Defense Mid-term Plan, which outlines military construction and operational plans for the next five years. The budget allocated for this plan is 300.7 trillion KRW, with 100.1 trillion KRW designated for defense capability improvements to enhance advanced forces against all-around security threats, and 200.6 trillion KRW allocated for operational expenses to maintain military power.

If the Hyunmoo-4 receives combat suitability certification within this year and mass production begins next year, it is expected to possess power comparable to tactical nuclear weapons. Its warhead weight of 500 kg is sufficient to destroy airport runways, but if the warhead weight increases to 2 tons, it will have at least three times the penetration power compared to the current strongest bunker buster, the GBU-57. It can penetrate reinforced concrete over 24 meters thick and general ground up to 180 meters, effectively possessing tactical nuclear-level power.

The Hyunmoo missiles currently held by the military mean "Guardian of the North." The Hyunmoo missile series includes the Hyunmoo-2A (300 km range), Hyunmoo-2B (500 km), Hyunmoo-2C (800 km) ballistic missiles, and the Hyunmoo-3 (1000 km) cruise missile. It is reported that the military developed and deployed the Hyunmoo-2B ballistic missile, which can perform pull-up maneuvers during the descent phase similar to Russia's Iskander missile, in the early 2000s. Among the Hyunmoo series, the Hyunmoo-2 ballistic missiles use rocket propulsion, making them faster and more destructive than the jet engine-based Hyunmoo-3 cruise missile. However, cruise missiles have higher precision than ballistic missiles.

Additional Deployment of Cheolmae-II to Intercept North Korean Missiles
Originally Planned to Mass-Produce More Than Seven Batteries

To establish a dense Korean Missile Defense (KAMD) system to intercept North Korean missiles, additional Cheolmae-II units will be deployed. Cheolmae-II is a missile that, along with the Patriot missile, destroys North Korean ballistic missiles at medium-high altitudes.

Initially, the military planned to mass-produce seven batteries of the medium-range surface-to-air guided weapon 'Cheolmae-II.' Former Defense Minister Song Young-moo delayed this procurement decision, causing the mass production schedule to be postponed by about a year. Cheolmae-II had effectively completed development, demonstrated by a successful test launch in February 2018 at the ADD test site in Anheung, Chungnam, where the M-SAM intercepted a target missile similar to North Korea's Scud missile. Since it was already reflected in the defense budget, there were no issues with mass production.

However, Minister Song delayed the mass production decision after taking office. His opinion to reduce production conflicted with the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The JCS maintained that at least seven M-SAM batteries are necessary to protect all valuable assets during wartime. Considering that each M-SAM battery is equipped with 32 missiles, building seven batteries as planned would deploy 224 interceptor missiles. This is necessary to complement the 108 interceptor missiles from eight Patriot batteries held by the South Korean military and eight Patriot batteries of the U.S. Forces Korea. Some speculated that Minister Song might have been considering introducing SM-3 interceptor missiles launched from Aegis ships instead of Cheolmae-II.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.