The Korean Attack Submarine program, KSS meaning Submarine, is a three-phased project to build up 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 ...

(ROK Navy)'s

attack submarine An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants and merchant vessels. In the Soviet and Russian navies they were and are called "mul ...

arsenal. Before the KSS program, the submarine fleet of the ROK Navy consisted of

midget submarines A midget submarine (also called a mini submarine) is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, ...

, such as the ''Dolgorae'' class submarine and SX 756 Dolphin class submarine, which had limited capabilities for inshore operations. The KSS program sought to acquire submarines that can deter hostile submarines and surface ships; protect friendly naval bases and sea shores communications; carry out reconnaissance missions. Through the first phase, KSS-I, the ROK Navy acquired nine 1,200-ton ''Jang Bogo''-class submarines (장보고 급). For the second phase, KSS-II, the ROK Navy plans to acquire nine 1,800-ton

Type 214 submarine The Type 214 is a diesel-electric submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (HDW). It features diesel propulsion with an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system using Siemens polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cel ...

s equipped with

Air-independent propulsion Air-independent propulsion (AIP), or air-independent power, is any marine propulsion technology that allows a non-nuclear submarine to operate without access to atmospheric oxygen (by surfacing or using a snorkel). AIP can augment or replace the ...

(AIP) the lead ship of her class, ROKS ''Sohn Won-il'' (SS 072) was launched at a shipyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries on 9 June 2006. The first batch of these submarines is one of three, the second batch will be one of 6 and a $16 million deal has been awarded to

SAAB Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB * Saab Automobile, a fo ...

for the electronics that are going to be used for the vessels delivered in the second batch submarines. The third part of the program, KSS-III began in 2007. This class will have significant improvements when compared to its predecessors. A total of nine 3,000-ton KSS-III submarines are expected to be built in South Korea with indigenous technologies (i.e. not going under license as the previous KSS-I and KSS-II submarines). In May 2009, South Korea decided to delay by two years its KSS-III project, also known as ''Jangbogo III programme''. The project is expected to cost around US$900 million per submarine. The first KSS-III ship will be ready for service by 2025. The previous plan was to have an operational unit ready by 2017. Due to the relatively heavy displacement of the ship (3000~3500 tons) and the fact that it will be built with local Korean technologies (sensitive technologies might be blocked from export) the production of the submarine was delayed. This new class of ship will have the

Korean Vertical Launching System The Korean Vertical Launching System (K-VLS or KVLS) is a vertical launch weapon system developed by South Korea to be deployed by the Republic of Korea Navy. It is used in the Sejong the Great-class destroyer, and is scheduled to be added to the D ...

which will be able to carry up to 10 indigenous 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. The first submarine in the

to have this kind of capability. It will also have many other improvements compared to its predecessors. Reports indicate South Korea might even deploy

SLBM A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from Ballistic missile submarine, submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of whic ...

s inside the vertical launchers. Development of SLBMs 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 ...

is expected to be completed by 2020. SLBMs will be a derivative of

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 ...

-2 ballistic missiles. The first KSS-III heavy diesel-electric submarine construction was launched on 17 September 2018. The name of the first ship of KSS-III has been named ''Dosan An Chang-Ho'', thus KSS-III is now named as ''Dosan An Chang-Ho''-class Submarine. It is expected to undergo 2 years of sea trials and be handed over to the navy in 2020 or early 2021. It is expected that three batches, with three submarines in each batch, will be built by 2029.

Specification KSS-III (Jangbogo III) heavy diesel-electric submarine

Batch-I:

Full-length: 83.5m
Beam: 9.6m
Pressure sensor diameter: 7.7m
Draught: 7.62m
Crew: 50 sailors
Maximum speed: 20 knots
Cruising range: 10,000 nm
Surface tonnage: 3358 tons
Submerged tonnage: 3705 tons

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Korean Attack Submarine Program Submarines of the Republic of Korea Navy Proposed ships

Specification KSS-III (Jangbogo III) heavy diesel-electric submarine

See also

References