The SSM-700K C-Star (Haeseong) (, Sea Star) is a ship-launched
sea-skimming
Sea skimming is a technique many anti-ship missiles and some fighter or strike aircraft use to avoid radar, infrared detection, and to lower probability of being shot down during their approach to the target.
Method
Sea-skimming anti-ship missi ...
surface-to-surface
A surface-to-surface missile (SSM) or ground-to-ground missile (GGM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea and strike targets on land or at sea. They may be fired from hand-held or vehicle mounted devices, from fixed ins ...
anti-ship cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhe ...
developed by the South Korean
Agency for Defense Development (ADD),
LIG Nex1 and the
Republic of Korea Navy
The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN; ko, 대한민국 해군), also known as the ROK Navy or South Korean Navy, is the naval warfare service branch of the South Korean armed forces, responsible for naval and amphibious operations. The ROK Navy in ...
in 2003. The missiles are deployed on
KDX-II and
KDX-III destroyers as of 2006, each carrying 8 and 16 of the missiles respectively, and on s.
Development history
During the 1970s, the Republic of Korea Navy decided to import
Exocet anti-ship missiles to deter North Korean naval provocations. Considering the fact that the
Korean People's Navy
The Korean People's Army Naval Force (KPANF; Korean: 조선인민군 해군; Hanja: 朝鮮人民軍 海軍; ''Chosŏn-inmingun Haegun''; ) or the Korean People's Navy (KPN), is the naval service branch of the Korean People's Army, which contain ...
was then and now mostly composed of numerous small to midsize ships, a cheap, small guided anti-ship missile was proposed. In 1978, the Korean Agency for Defense Development (ADD) started the development of the ''Hae Ryong'' anti-ship missile, and by 1987 the ROK Navy approved for the mass production of the missiles. But the ''Hae Ryong'' was fitted with a semi-active
laser guidance
Laser guidance directs a robotics system to a target position by means of a laser beam. The laser guidance of a robot is accomplished by projecting a laser light, image processing and communication to improve the accuracy of guidance. The key ide ...
system, limiting its tactical capability during bad weather. Additional pressure from the United States ultimately resulted in the termination of the project.
In 1990, the problem of large proportions of the defense budget going into buying anti-ship missiles from foreign countries was brought up. The ROK Navy ordered the ADD to develop a missile that was on par with or better in performance than the
Harpoon Block 1C missile. The new missile was codenamed ''Haeseong'', and research of the following core missile technologies was started in 1996.
* Microwave seeking system
* Inertial navigation system
* Radar altimeter
* Electronic jamming system
* SS-760K turbofan engine
After 7 years of research, on August 21, 2003, the ADD successfully test fired the ''Haeseong'' and sunk the target dummy vessel. On December 20, 2005, the first production model was successfully fired from KDX-II class destroyer.
Cruise missiles
A mid-range cruise missile, the ''Haeseong'' was developed for over-the-horizon warfare, capable of attacking targets out to 150 km (93 miles). Traveling at ultra-low sea-skimming altitudes, it uses a high-
subsonic
Subsonic may refer to:
Motion through a medium
* Any speed lower than the speed of sound within a sound-propagating medium
* Subsonic aircraft, a flying machine that flies at air speeds lower than the speed of sound
* Subsonic ammunition, a type o ...
, high-capacity
turbojet
The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...
, with an
inertial navigation system
An inertial navigation system (INS) is a navigation device that uses motion sensors (accelerometers), rotation sensors ( gyroscopes) and a computer to continuously calculate by dead reckoning the position, the orientation, and the velocity (dire ...
(INS) and
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
(GPS) to guide it toward its target, using a
radar altimeter to maintain altitude. An
active radar
Active radar homing (ARH) is a missile guidance method in which a missile contains a radar transceiver (in contrast to semi-active radar homing, which uses only a receiver) and the electronics necessary for it to find and track its target aut ...
is used for targeting in the terminal phase immediately before impact. It was designed to be deployed in an active
electronic warfare
Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...
environment, fitted with both detection and countermeasures systems. The warhead itself is similar to the Harpoon, fitted with an impact or penetration fuse. The ''Haeseong'' is also suitable for shore-launched coastal defense from both fixed and mobile land platforms. The development agency claims "a 100 per cent accuracy rate in live fire tests", such as at
Exercise RIMPAC.
It is reported that an unknown number of C-Star missiles were sold to Colombia.
In September 2011, South Korean defense officials confirmed the development of a supersonic cruise missile based on the Haeseong I. Haeryong (Sea Dragon), or Haeseong II, is designed as a ship-to-surface cruise missile that travels faster than Mach 1 and can evade defense systems to accurately strike ground targets, particularly North Korean missile launch pads. The missile was developed without the assistance of the United States and will not be offered for export due to restrictions of the
Missile Technology Control Regime
The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) is a multilateral export control regime. It is an informal political understanding among 35 member states that seek to limit the proliferation of missiles and missile technology. The regime was formed ...
. Ships will launch the missile with the installation of
vertical and slant launch systems.
Development of the Haeryong, also called the Tactical Ship to Land Missile (TSLM), was completed in 2014 and
FFX-I-class frigates began operating the slant-launched (SL) version from the same inclined canister launchers that fire the anti-ship missile in 2016. Mass production of the vertical launch (VL) version, differing by the presence of a more powerful launch booster with thrust vectoring, to equip FFX-II and FFX-III-class frigates will begin in 2018 and become operational in 2019. The TSLM is equipped with a
submunition warhead capable of "covering two football fields" combining a
shaped charge
A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to form an explosively formed penetrator (EFP) to focus the effect of the explosive's energy. Different types of shaped charges are used for various purposes such as cutting and forming metal, init ...
and fragmentation jacket to penetrate armored vehicles and destroy soft targets to strike North Korean artillery and missile systems; it can be retargeted in-flight and has improved obstacle avoidance with a range.
There is a cruise missile called the Haeseong III designed to be launched underwater from submarines, but this is actually the designation for the
Hyunmoo-3
The Hyunmoo-3 is a cruise missile fielded by the South Korean military designed by Agency for Defense Development (ADD). The name Hyunmoo () comes from a mythical beast described as the "Guardian of the Northern Sky", perhaps hinting North Korea ...
cruise missile when launched from a submarine and is unrelated to the previous Haeseong missiles.
Variants
* SSM-700K: Initial production model, with imported Ku-band seeker, SS-760K turbojet engine (based on Russian R95TP-300)
* SSM-710K: Current model with domestic Ku-band seeker, SSE-750K turbojet engine and other upgrades
* SSM-750K: Land attack version of the SSM-710K. Ku-band seeker replaced with GPS/INS guidance package
Production
33 units were delivered by 2007 for the first production phase of the missile. 100 more ''Haeseong'' missiles are to be delivered to the ROK Navy by 2010.
Users
* : Ordered in 2012 for the .
*
*
See also
*
Kh-35
*
Kh-59
*
VCM-01
References
External links
{{commons category, SSM-700K
C-Star at Deagel.comC-Star at Lignex1.com
Anti-ship cruise missiles
Cruise missiles of South Korea
Military equipment introduced in the 2000s
Post–Cold War weapons of South Korea
Surface-to-surface missiles