South Korea, submerged pantoon/barge test launched a Hyunmoo 4-4 SLBM variant of its Hyunmoo 2B missile in early July 2021 - see my July 6, 2021 report.
In early
September 2021 South Korean progressed to test launching a Hyanmoo 4-4 from the first of class KSS-3 (aka KSS-lll) Dosan
Ahn Changho conventional SSB submarine.
A useful report is at Reuters dated September 7, 2021.
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Pete Comment
SLBMs, all with nuclear warheads, have been developed by seven other countries, including the US, Russia, China, UK, France, India, and North Korea. The track record of all previous SLBMs being nuclear tipped strongly suggests South Korea (SK) envisages its future SLBMs would likewise carry nuclear weapons.
Basically the extreme expense of the KSS-3/KSS-III subs SK has specifically developed for SLBM carriage is only explicable if their "throw weight" was nuclear. If used to merely launch high explosive SLBMs from their 6 to 10 silos this would represent a high explosive throw-weight totalling only 6 tonnes. This would be less than the 8 tonnes of high explosive delivered by each of SK's F-35As (40 in service as at January 2023).
SLBMs are only economical and act as a deterrent if they are nuclear armed. Otherwise North Korea (NK) could feel comfortable first or second striking SK with its nuclear tipped SLBMs, land based missiles and free fall (aircraft dropped) nuclear bombs against Seoul and other critical targets in SK. This is assuming the US may one day withdraw the actual or non-existent nuclear deterrent "umbrella" that protects SK.
In any case the unwritten "Law" of Incoming Ballistic Missile Ambiguity means that NK must assume that all SK SLBMs, on their way to NK, would be nuclear tipped and deserve a nuclear response. Otherwise if NK didn't use its nuclear missiles prior to the SK missiles arriving NK could permanently lose its nuclear warheads.
3 comments:
Wouldn't the Golf-class submarine be considered the world's first SSB and what the South Koreans just did with their Submarine can be traced back to the Golf-class submarine.
Hi Nicky
Re your double-barreled "Tweet"
Q1. "Wouldn't the Golf-class submarine be considered the world's first SSB"?
A1. No. The first SSB (specifically ballistic) accolade goes to the Soviet Zulu class:
"Six were converted in 1956 to become the world's first ballistic missile submarines, one armed with a single R-11FM Scud missile and five others with two Scuds each. They were designated as Project AV 611 and received the NATO reporting name of Zulu V...."
see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zulu-class_submarine
Q2. "what the South Koreans just did with their Submarine can be traced back to the Golf-class submarine."
A2. On balance - Nope! More likely to the US George Washington-class SSBNs (first subs with clustered vertical silos for ballistic missiles). Of course SK's KSS-3s are without the GWs' advantage of having a reactor.
see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington-class_submarine
Pete
It does pose the question, what will “Regionally Superior” now look like?, cough, cough.
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