Navy urged to arm Aegis destroyers with better capability

Navy urged to arm Aegis destroyers with better capability. April. 24, 2012 04:49. ysh1005@donga.com.

Voices are growing louder for the Navy to equip its Aegis destroyers with stronger combat capability to counter North Korea’s missile threat in the wake of new provocations from Pyongyang.

The South Korean Aegis destroyer King Sejong the Great in the Yellow Sea traced the trajectory of the North’s long-range rocket with its high-tech Aegis radar just 54 seconds after it was fired April 13. The Sejong demonstrated its superb detection capacity again, having tracked the North’s long-range rocket only some 10 seconds after launch in 2009.

Critics, however, say the successful tracking effectively showed that the Sejong is just a “paper tiger” incapable of intercepting North Korean missiles. The ship is armed with SM-2 aircraft-intercepting attack missiles, anti-submarine missiles, and anti-submarine torpedoes, but lacks interceptors for ballistic missiles.

The vessel is armed with 128 missile launchers for vertical launch, meaning it is designed to have “stronger firepower” than the Aegis cruiser (122 launchers) of the U.S. But the Sejong lacks the ultimate capability to intercept ballistic missiles.

U.S Aegis battleships are armed with SM-3 and Tomahawk cruise missiles, and offer strong war deterrence capacity.

Certain experts urge the arming of the Sejong with SM-6 interceptor missiles, which are suitable for low-altitude sky defense, which the South Korean military seeks. The SM-6 boasts a maximum range of 320 to 400 kilometers and a maximum intercepting altitude of 30 kilometers.

The South Korean military has sought to introduce the SM-6 since 2009 but no progress has been seen due to lack of budget and other reasons. Since the U.S. Navy recently deployed SM-6 missiles in real-combat situations in recent years, experts say South Korea must also do the same.

A senior military officer in Seoul said, “The SM-6 is cheaper than the SM-3, and is limited in capacity to low-altitude defense. South Korea can avoid controversy over the construction of a missile defense system.”

Experts also say the recently introduced Hyeongmu-3 class cruise missile should be hurriedly installed on South Korean Aegis destroyers as well.

A military source in Seoul said, “If the three Aegis destroyers King Sejong the Great, Yulgok Yi Yi and Yu Seong-ryong, which are set for deployment next year, are armed with the capacity to intercept North Korean missiles and conduct precision attacks on core targets across the North, South Korea can significantly boost its war deterrence vis-à-vis North Korea.”