[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Deployment of Tactical Surface-to-Surface Guided Weapons Targeting North Korea's Tunnels

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Tactical ground-to-ground guided missiles designed to destroy North Korea's long-range artillery tunnel positions will be mass-produced by 2025.

According to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) on the 26th, Seo Wook, Minister of National Defense, held the 131st Defense Acquisition Program Promotion Committee meeting via video conference the day before, reviewing and approving the mass production plans for the tactical ground-to-ground guided missile and the third mass production plan for the K2 tank.

The tactical ground-to-ground guided missile will be mass-produced with a total project cost of 320 billion won from this year through 2025, producing about 200 units. This missile system can penetrate and destroy North Korea's long-range artillery tunnel positions and strike targets within an error range of 1 to 2 meters from a distance of 180 km. If the North Korean military attempts to fire long-range artillery, the tactical ground-to-ground guided missile equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS) can destroy the tunnel itself, neutralizing the artillery early in the conflict.

Although the military authorities rapidly developed this system in response to North Korea's long-range artillery attacks following the Yeonpyeong Island shelling incident in November 2010, development was only completed in January this year, taking a total of 10 years.

During the National Assembly Defense Committee's audit of the Army Headquarters held at Gyeryongdae this year, criticism arose that the military authorities have been unable to take any action regarding mass production because the Board of Audit and Inspection suddenly began a "Feasibility Evaluation of the Tactical Ground-to-Ground Missile Mass Production Project" in February, continuing the audit for 10 months.

At that time, Kim Jin-pyo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out, "In 2017, defense committee members personally visited the Anheung Test Site and witnessed a successful test launch of the tactical ground-to-ground missile," adding, "Three years have passed since then, but due to the ongoing audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection since last February, the weapon system has not yet been operationalized."

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