[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Promotion of Domestic Development of Aegis Ship SM-3

Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyer DDG-73 Decatur launching a ballistic missile interceptor missile

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] A plan is being pursued to develop interceptor missiles domestically instead of importing them from overseas for the new Aegis destroyers (Gwanggaeto-III Batch-2).

According to the military on the 8th, the Navy plans to build three new Aegis destroyers by 2028 and will equip them with vertical launch systems capable of firing SM-3 class interceptor missiles (interception altitude over 500 km). Former Defense Minister Song Young-moo has also repeatedly expressed his intention to consider the introduction of SM-3 anti-air missiles in response to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

However, research by the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA) projected that it would take more than 10 years and cost 1 trillion won to import SM-3 missiles from the United States. It also diagnosed that if North Korea launches ballistic missiles at a high angle, the descent speed would reach Mach 10 to 14, leaving very little reaction time. In particular, it was assessed that intercepting ballistic missiles falling on the Seoul metropolitan area with SM-3 from the sea would require side interception, which would inevitably lower the interception rate.

The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) believes that based on the technology of the domestically developed long-range surface-to-air missile (L-SAM), it is possible to simultaneously develop a ground interception system at the THAAD level and a sea interception system at the SM-3 level. Accordingly, ADD reported to the Ministry of National Defense that domestic production of the THAAD-level system could be possible by 2029, and the SM-3-level system by 2036.

A military official said, "While it cannot be guaranteed that North Korea possesses the technology for high-angle ballistic missile launches, assuming they do, it is more appropriate to strengthen ground interception means rather than sea-based ones."