South Korea has deep-seated arrogance. If you want to defeat South Korea, you can probably just denounce South Korea as a "second-rate product" to the point of insanity, and then defeat yourself without a fight.
This is a joke, of course, but the reality is not far off, because the South Korean Navy is entering a new wave of shipbuilding, in which the protagonists are arsenal ships, destroyers and conventional ballistic missile submarines.
Speaking of which, South Korea's new destroyer (KDDX) is worth commenting on, but it lacks novelty overall, and the backward bow that once followed the "Zumwalt" class was finally abandoned and changed back to the regular forward bow. It is equipped with a dual-band radar, as well as multiple sets of vertical hair with Korean characteristics, with large bullets and large vertical hair, and small bullets and small vertical hair, instead of the universal vertical hair in the United States and China, using all-electric propulsion, there is nothing else to say.
The design of the early KDDX is full of "kimchi jum" flavor.
The current plan is much more down-to-earth.
Conventionally powered ballistic missile submarines are a little strange, but they are also determined by South Korea's national conditions. This is an elongation of the existing conventionally powered submarines, and does not require much missile range, so the hull diameter is sufficient.
But the arsenal ships are more bizarre. This is the main platform used by the South Korean Navy for land-to-sea strikes, and it is really a replacement for aircraft carriers.
South Korea calls it a joint strike ship, and the model was shown at the Madex Navy Show in October 2023.
This is an evolution of Hanwha's (formerly Daewoo) Marine KDDX design, with a displacement of 8,000 tons. Because it is the foundation of a destroyer, it has a faster speed and better maneuverability, which is a completely different design idea from the American arsenal ship.
The "Sea Bow" anti-aircraft missile is a light and small short-range anti-aircraft missile, but it has radar-infrared dual-mode guidance, and the aerodynamic design is also quite complex, with a small front wing, which is estimated to be an immovable vortex generator, and the main wing has a side strip extending forward, and then the tail.
In terms of firepower, there was a close defense gun in the front and rear, and in the front main gun position was a KVLS-I vertical fire for firing K-SAAM. K-SAAM, also known as the "Sea Bow", is a short-range anti-aircraft missile of the same class as the ESSM, with a maximum speed of M2 and a maximum range of 20 km. There are also dual-band radars. A destroyer with strong self-defense capability and can be regarded as a reinforced bomb-carrying destroyer, which is very different from the positioning of the "missile barge" of the US arsenal ship.
The highlight is the heavy hanging hair in the middle. The first is the KVLS-II, which is the big brother of the KVLS-I, which can launch heavier and longer missiles, such as the Haesong II cruise missile or the L-SAM long-range anti-aircraft missile, the former has a range of 500 kilometers, and the latter is an advanced anti-aircraft missile against the "Patriot", so it can theoretically also be used as an air defense arsenal ship.
Then there is the 15-tube "Xuanwu IV-2" ballistic missile with a range of 500 km.
After that, it's more fun. First of all, the *** library was "requisitioned", which is equivalent to the hangar door position is now two erect twin launch canisters. Due to the large length, it was impossible to fit into the hull, so it could only be placed flat on the deck, and it was erected in preparation for launch. This is not a new design, the United States and the Soviet Union did this in the 50s when they could not solve the problem of missile length, but the launch stability was too poor, the impact of high sea conditions on the launch was too great, and the launch preparation time was too long, and it was not used later.
However, South Korea does not believe in evil, and has added a larger one to the stern of the ship, which is to directly move the erection mechanism of the heavy vehicle-mounted missile, which can launch a larger and heavier "Hyunwu V" ballistic missile, with a range of up to 3,000 kilometers at a 1-ton warhead, and a maximum warhead of 8-9 tons if the range is shortened. Of course, the launch conditions are also more restrictive.
South Korea has actually put all its self-developed missiles on board.
It is required to be put into service by 2030.
The twisting of the design is a problem, but the twisting of the mind is the problem. What is this arsenal ship for?
Arsenal ships are different from destroyers and submarines, and basically have only one purpose: ground strikes.
South Korea's biggest or even the only security threat comes from the north. This is especially true now that North Korea has amended its constitution to make it clear that South Korea is an enemy. The DPRK and the ROK are on the same peninsula, and the entire battlefield is not very big, and there is not much difference between launching long-range strikes from the sea, air, and land, and the land-based system also has the advantages of being easy to deploy and having a strong ability to resist strikes.
The only advantage of a strike at sea is a large bomb load. The problem of weak anti-strike capability of ships is not a big problem under the setting of a peninsular war, and the strength of the DPRK Navy is too weak, but the narrow battlefield also determines that a sea strike is not necessary. In fact, in the Yellow Sea, west of the peninsula, the coastline is more than 200 kilometers away from the median line with China, and without China's tacit consent, it is no longer a sea area where the ROK Navy can operate in combat. The Sea of Japan side is a little more open, but there is also a Russian factor.
Naval strikes are an important means for the navies of great powers, but they are practically useless for South Korea's actual defense needs.
Unless South Korea's enemies expand beyond North Korea, such as Japan, China, and Russia.
I can't think that South Korea and Russia can still fight, and it is also unbearable to fight with China, especially in the face of a coordinated counterattack by the Sino-North Korean coalition forces with a high probability.
Fighting with Japan is also a fantasy. As long as there are U.S. troops stationed in Korea and U.S. troops stationed in Japan, the Japan-Korea War will be impossible.
South Korea is eager to give full play to the advantages of developed shipbuilding, which is understandable, what is the purpose of bombing South Korea's arsenal ships?