 Republic of Korea Source: CIA |
SEOUL - South Korea may not have sufficiently tested a domestically built anti-ship missile before beginning mass production. These problems could hinder South Korea's plans to enhance the capabilities of its navy.
According to the "Ship-to-Ship Guided Missile Test Results" submitted by the Ministry of Defense to the National Assembly's Defense Committee on September 22, the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) began developing ship-to-ship missiles in 1993. The program involved two missiles: one assembled from parts imported from foreign sources in October 2003; another manufactured from domestically produced components.
The anti-ship missile was to have a range of 150 km. South Korea planned to build hundreds of missiles at a cost of 686.9 billion won. This project would provide a significant enhancement to the navy's offensive capabilities. The ADD recommended that the missile be put into production before testing had been completed. Production of dozens of the missiles began at the end of 2004.
Test firings of the missile are to be performed after November. South Korean officials are worried that if the missile fails these tests, there could be a massive disruption in its plans to deploy this missile on its warships.
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