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The Defense Ministry apparently plans to equip the Navy's 7,600-ton-class Aegis vessels, including a King Sejong-class destroyer, with the newest-type American-made SM-6 missiles to intercept North Korean ballistic missiles. The development of the SM-6 has not been finished; once it is, some 100 of them will be deployed on Sejong and other South Korean naval vessels by around 2012. Since six or seven years ago, the Defense Ministry had intended to purchase SM-2 Block IVA missiles, which the U.S. was developing for Aegis vessels, to match the South Korean Aegis ships' state-of-the-art radar capacity to trace and intercept North Korea's ballistic missiles. But with the missile development plan cancelled, the ministry's purchase plan came to a standstill.
Now, a senior source at the Defense Ministry said Sunday, Korea plans ¡°to deploy SM-6 long-range sea-to-air missiles on the King Sejong-class destroyer, which we launched last year, and two other Aegis destroyers that will be built. A lot of progress has been made in Seoul-Washington talks on their purchase." The SM-6 missile reportedly has a range of 320 to 400 km and a maximum intercept altitude of about 30 km. By contrast, SM-3 missiles, which the U.S. and Japan are jointly developing, have a range of about 500 km and a maximum intercept altitude of about 160 km.
Some South Korean military authorities are worried that the SM-6 missiles cannot be linked to the U.S. missile defense system, given that they have a far lower intercept altitude than the SM-3 missiles. But others argue to ensure proper use of SM-6 missiles, the South Korean Navy will naturally be linked to the U.S. missile defense system, considering that it will need the assistance of some intelligence reconnaissance devices, including spy satellites and radars, in the U.S. MD system.
The SM-2 sea-to-air missiles currently deployed on King Sejong-class destroyer has a range of only 148 km and has no capacity to intercept North Korean ballistic missiles. In the future, South Korean military authorities plan to build a Korea Air and Missile Defense system consisting of SM-6 missiles on Aegis ships, Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC)-3 Missiles on the ground, and a ballistic missile early warning radar system.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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