SSM-700K Haeseong

Haeseong
Type	Anti-ship missile
Place of origin	Republic of Korea
Service history
In service	2006-present
Used by	Republic of Korea Navy
Production history
Designer	Agency for Defense Development LIG Nex1
Designed	1996-2003
Manufacturer	LIG Nex1
Unit cost	₩ 2,500,000,000
Produced	2004-present
Specifications
Weight	718 kg(with launcher:1,016kg)
Length	5.46 m
Width	0.34 m
Operational range	180 km+
Flight altitude	Sea-skimming
Speed	1013 km/h (Mach 0.85)

SSM-700K Haeseong (C-Star) Anti-ship Missile (Hangul: 해성 미사일) is a ship launched anti-ship cruise missile developed by the Korea Agency for Defense Development (ADD), LIG Nex1 and the Republic of Korea Navy 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.

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 DPRK Navy 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 system, limiting its tactical capability during bad weather. Additional pressure from the USA 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 in 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.

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 ROKS Dae Joyeong (DDH 977) KDX-II class destroyer.

In September 2011, South Korean defense officials confirmed the development of a supersonic cruise missile based on the Haeseong I anti-ship missile. Called the Haeseong II, it 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. Ships will launch the missile with the installation of vertical and slant launch systems, and strike targets over 500 km (310 mi; 270 nmi) away. There is a version of the Haeseong cruise missile designed to be launched underwater from submarines called the Haeseong III. The Haeseong cruise missiles were believed to have become operational in 2013. It started being deployed in 2016, designed to be launched from top side/inclined launchers. Mass production of the Haeseong II, also called the Tactical Surface Launch Missile (TSLM), for vertical launch systems will begin in 2018 and become operational in 2019; it is equipped with submunitions and is able to be retargeted in-flight. The vertical launch variant differs from the canister-launched missile by the presence of a more powerful launch booster with thrust vectoring.

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Wikipedia