|
The new Aegis destroyers the Navy will start taking possession of in 2008 will be stocked with some 30 Korean-made ship-to-land cruise missiles each, a military source said Monday. Japan¡¯s military has already put four Aegis ships into action and has plans for two more of the next-generation destroyers, but the Korean fleet will have a more effective weapon because the Japanese models lack the ship-to-land rockets. The cruise missiles, like the U.S.-produced Tomahawk missiles, are strategic weapons capable of slamming into targets on land hundreds of kilometers from the ship that launches them.
Authorities remain tight-lipped about the missiles¡¯ range, but experts estimate that they will be capable of reaching targets up to 500 km away or even further. That would make them nearly twice as powerful as the ATACMS and Hyunmoo missiles currently in Korea¡¯s arsenal, which top out at 300 km.
The Korean-type Aegis ships will also be equipped with a 128 vertical take-off missile complement including long-range anti-sub missiles, which also puts them ahead of Japan¡¯s, which carries 90-96 vertical take-off missiles.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
