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Korea is likely to deploy Hongsangeo (Red Shark) submarine-killing torpedoes to the Navy’s King Sejong the Great-class Aegis destroyer late this month.
"The Navy installed a torpedo launch system on the King Sejong late last month and began the final sea acceptance test from Aug. 8," said a press release by Song Young-sun of Alliance of Future Hope at the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee.
"It'll be possible to deploy the torpedoes on the destroyer sometime late this month if there is nothing strange in the test outcome."
The Red Shark has been in development since 2000 as a submarine killer by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and will be deployed on another Aegis destroyer, the Yulgok, late this year, following the deployment on the King Sejong, according to military sources.
The missile is launched vertically to avoid detection by enemy submarines and to increase its range. It is dropped by parachute near the intended target. After release, the torpedo falls into the water and independently searches for the target.
“It is very meaningful that Korea will deploy the submarine killer on the destroyers as it covers about 30 kilometers and it can attack enemy submarines pre-emptively,” said lawmaker Song.
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