Place of origin Republic of Korea | ||
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Used by Republic of Korea ArmyRepublic of Korea Navy Designer Agency for Defense DevelopmentLIG Nex1 Variants Hyunmoo-3AHyunmoo-3BHyunmoo-3C | ||
Hyunmoo-3 is a new cruise missile that is to be fielded with the military of Republic of Korea. It is designed by Agency for Defense Development (ADD). The name Hyunmoo (Hangul: 현무) comes from a mythical beast described as the "Guardian of the Northern Sky", perhaps hinting North Korea.
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Design and development
South Korea is barred from producing a non-indigenous ballistic missile that is above a certain payload and range limit in accordance to Missile Technology Control Regime. Therefore, a heavy emphasis was put on developing long-range cruise missiles by the South Korean government, as there is no restriction of payload amount and range limit set for them. With the introduction of Hyunmoo-III, which also has some advanced systems sometimes found on ICBMs, the Republic of Korea Army created the Missile Command in order to efficiently manage these missiles.
Hyunmoo-3 bears no resemblance to the previous Hyunmoo SSM, which were improved versions of Nike Hercules surface-to-air missiles that were converted into short-range high-speed surface-to-surface ballistic missiles in response to North Korea's Scud-B and Nodong-1 missile threats. Instead, the new missile's designs are strikingly similar to the United States Tomahawk cruise missile. It is powered by a turbofan engine, and has a maximum payload of 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) of conventional explosive. The guidance systems consist of Inertial guidance system and Global Positioning System.
Hyunmoo-3A, which was nicknamed "Eagle-1" (독수리-1) during the testing, has a range of 500 km, while Hyunmoo-3B, nicknamed "Eagle-2" (독수리-2), has a range of 1,000 km. Hyunmoo-3C, or "Eagle-3" (독수리-3), will be capable of striking its target up to 1,500 km away. This is a significant improvement from Hyunmoo I which had a range of 180 km and Hyunmoo-2A, which only has a range of 300 km, both of which were ballistic and not cruise missiles.
Sejong the Great class destroyers and KSS-III class submarines will be equipped with these missiles inside their Vertical Launching System (K-VLS).