South Korea unveils anti-ship missile

South Korea's Nex1 Future, formerly LG Innotek, has unveiled a new antiship missile (ASM) it says is similar to the US-made RGM/AGM-84 Harpoon. Development of the as-yet undesignated ASM was first reported in November 1998. A model was shown for the first time at the Defence Asia exhibition held in Daejeon, south of Seoul, from 5-10 October. The company says development was completed in late 2003, with a number of pre-production models being manufactured this year and series production due to start in 2005. The ASM is designed for surface launch, either from land or ship, with the latter platforms including the KDX-1/2/3 destroyer and the PKM-X patrol craft under development. The new ASM has a length of 5,700 mm and a diameter of 540 mm, with a 'Harpoon-class' warhead. It has an impact and penetration fuse, terminal guidance with 'fire-and-forget' active radar homing to a maximum range of 80 nm. The missile further features a strapdown inertial navigation system with global positioning aid, and various attack modes including evasive manoeuvring. It is a low altitude sea-skimming missile with all-weather capability and a maximum speed in the high subsonics, the company said. Surface to surface missiles - Korea South (Jane's Naval Weapon Systems) © 2005 Jane's Information Group. All rights reserved.