The Hyunmoo-3 is a
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 ...
fielded by the South Korean military designed by
Agency for Defense Development
The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) is the South Korean national agency for research and development in defense technology, funded by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). It was established in August 1970 under the banner ...
(ADD). The name
Hyunmoo
Hyunmoo (Korean: 현무; Hanja: 玄武; literally "Black Tortoise" of Asian mythology, which stands for "Guardian of the Northern Sky") is a series of strategic missiles developed by South Korea.
The Hyunmoo includes the only ballistic missile r ...
() comes from a
mythical beast
A legendary creature (also mythical or mythological creature) is a type of fictional entity, typically a hybrid, that has not been proven and that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), but may be featured in historical accoun ...
[ described as the "Guardian of the Northern Sky", perhaps hinting North Korea.
]
Design and development
As a signatory of the multilateral 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 ...
, South Korea agrees to refrain from importing a non-indigenous ballistic missile with a warhead larger than 500 kg, or a range of more than 300 km. In addition, a bilateral agreement between the ROK and US limits indigenous South Korean produced missiles to no more than in range, and warheads no larger than . (In September 2017, the presidents of the ROK and the US agreed "in principle" to lift these bilateral limits, increasing the possibility of a longer-range, more powerful Hyunmoo-4 in the future.)
Therefore, a heavy emphasis was put on developing long-range cruise missiles by the South Korean government. With the introduction of Hyunmoo-3, which also has some advanced systems sometimes found on ICBMs
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons ...
, the Republic of Korea Army
The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ko, 대한민국 육군; Hanja: 大韓民國 陸軍; RR: ''Daehanminguk Yuk-gun''), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the l ...
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
The Nike Hercules, initially designated SAM-A-25 and later MIM-14, was a surface-to-air missile (SAM) used by U.S. and NATO armed forces for medium- and high-altitude long-range air defense. It was normally armed with the W31 nuclear warhead, bu ...
surface-to-air missile
A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...
s that were converted into short-range high-speed surface-to-surface ballistic missiles in response to North Korea's Scud-B
The R-17 Elbrus, GRAU index 9K72 is a tactical ballistic missile, initially developed by the Soviet Union. It is also known by its NATO reporting name SS-1C Scud-B. It is one of several Soviet missiles to carry the reporting name Scud; the most ...
and Nodong-1
The Hwasong-7 (; spelled Hwaseong-7 in South Korea, lit. Mars Type 7), also known as Nodong-1 (Hangul: ; Hanja: ), is a single-Staging (rocketry), stage, mobile Bipropellant rocket, liquid propellant medium-range ballistic missile developed by Nort ...
missile threats. Instead, the new missile's designs are strikingly similar to the United States Tomahawk cruise missile
The Tomahawk () Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is a long-range, all-weather, jet-powered, subsonic cruise missile that is primarily used by the United States Navy and Royal Navy in ship and submarine-based land-attack operations.
Under contract fr ...
. It is powered by a turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
engine, and has a maximum payload of of conventional explosive. The guidance systems consist of inertial guidance 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 ...
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 ...
.
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) Cheonryong (천룡 순항 미사일), has a range of . Hyunmoo-3C, or "Eagle-3" (독수리-3), will be capable of striking its target up to away. This is a significant improvement from Hyunmoo I which had a range of and Hyunmoo-2A, which only has a range of , both of which were ballistic and not cruise missiles.
s and KSS-III
The KSS-III submarine, also classified as the ''Dosan Ahn Changho''-class submarines - is a series of diesel-electric attack submarines currently being built for the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN), jointly by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineeri ...
-class submarines will be equipped with these ''Chonryong''submarine-launched cruise missile
A submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM) is a cruise missile that is launched from a submarine (especially a SSG or SSGN). Current versions are typically standoff weapons known as land-attack cruise missiles (LACMs), which are used to attack p ...
s inside their vertical launching system
A vertical launching system (VLS) is an advanced system for holding and firing missiles on mobile naval platforms, such as surface ships and submarines. Each vertical launch system consists of a number of ''cells'', which can hold one or mor ...
(K-VLS).[
A Hyunmoo-3B ]air-launched cruise missile
An air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) is a cruise missile that is launched from a military aircraft. Current versions are typically standoff weapons which are used to attack predetermined land targets with conventional, nuclear or thermonuclear p ...
with over range exists and it is called ''Boramae''.SSM-700K Haeseong
The SSM-700K C-Star (Haeseong) (, Sea Star) is a ship-launched sea-skimming surface-to-surface anti-ship cruise missile developed by the South Korean Agency for Defense Development (ADD), LIG Nex1 and the Republic of Korea Navy in 2003. The mis ...
missile design.[South Korean Navy conducts test-launch Haeseong III cruise missile from Son Won II-class Type 214 submarine](_blank)
''Navy Recognition''. 3 October 2020.
Operators
*
** (KDX-II)
** (KDX-III)
References
{{commons category, Hyunmoo-3
Naval cruise missiles
Cruise missiles of South Korea
Post–Cold War weapons of South Korea
Military equipment introduced in the 2000s