The K745A1 Red Shark ()

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

, also called the K-ASROC, is a vertically launched

anti-submarine missile An anti-submarine missile is a standoff missile, standoff anti-submarine weapon, often a specialized variant of anti-ship missile. Anti-submarine missiles usually include a jet engine, jet or rocket engine, rocket engine and a warhead aimed di ...

successively developed and tested by

Korea University of Science and Technology The University of Science and Technology (, UST) is a group of public research institutions in Seoul, Suwon, Changwon, Ansan, Seongnam and Daejeon, etc, in South Korea. UST is the leading government-funded research university dedicated to the ...

, the

Agency for Defense Development The Agency for Defense Development (ADD, ) is the South Korean government agency for research and development in defense technology, funded by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). It was established in August 1970 under the ban ...

(ADD) and the

Republic of Korea Navy The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN; ), also known as the ROK Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, South Korean armed forces, responsible for naval and Amphibious warfare, amphibious operations. The South ...

in 2009.Yonhap News - S. Korea builds guided missile tipped with torpedo 6/22/2009
/ref> The Red Shark missile has a range of and carries a

K745 Blue Shark The K745 Blue Shark () is a lightweight anti-submarine torpedo developed for the Republic of Korea Navy in 2004. Development The Blue Shark torpedo can be deployed from surface ships, ASW helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft. Production c ...

torpedo that is deployed by parachute near the intended target. After release, the Blue Shark independently searches for the target. The missiles are planned to be deployed on

KDX-II ''Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin'' class destroyers (, Hanja: 忠武公李舜臣級驅逐艦) are multipurpose destroyers of the Republic of Korea Navy. The lead ship of this class, ROKS ''Chungmugong Yi Sunsin'', was launched in May 2002 and commission ...

and

KDX-III The ''Sejong the Great''-class destroyers (Sejongdaewang-Geup Guchukam or Hangul: 세종대왕급 구축함, Hanja: 世宗大王級驅逐艦), also known as KDX-III, are guided-missile destroyers of the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN). Hull name ...

destroyers starting in 2010. Each destroyer will carry between 8 (KDX-II) and 16 (KDX-III) of the missiles. The development cost of the program was around

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

million 1,000,000 (one million), or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian ''millione'' (''milione'' in modern Italian), from ''mille'', "thousand", plus the ...

, with a production cost of about $14 million. They were designed in order to combat the potential threat of North Korean submarines.

Ships

The Red Shark missiles are fitted to the following ship classes :*

Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin class destroyer ''Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin'' class destroyers (, Hanja: 忠武公李舜臣級驅逐艦) are multipurpose destroyers of the Republic of Korea Navy. The lead ship of this class, ROKS ''Chungmugong Yi Sunsin'', was launched in May 2002 and commission ...

(KDX-II) :* King Sejong the Great class destroyer (KDX-III)

Production

References

External links

Anti-submarine missiles Naval weapons of South Korea Post–Cold War weapons of South Korea ADD research and development projects {{SouthKorea-mil-stub

Ships

Production

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

References

External links