The Hyunmoo-5 missile seen at South Korea’s Armed Forces Day in October 2024. (Kim Jae-Hwan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The Republic of Korea Army (RoKA) has started deployments of the Hyunmoo-5 ground-launched surface-to-surface ballistic missile, a spokesperson for the country’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) told Janes on 23 January.
According to the spokesperson, the missile – designed to strike North Korean underground bunkers – is “currently undergoing the process of operational deployment”. The spokesperson did not elaborate.
South Korea displayed the Hyunmoo-5 (also known as Hyon Mu-5) for the first time at a parade to mark South Korea’s Armed Forces Day in October 2024. During the parade, two missiles were displayed, carried on nine-axle transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) vehicles.
Hyunmoo-5 was developed by South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development (ADD) in co-ordination with Hanwha Aerospace. Unconfirmed media reports have suggested that the RoKA could procure up to 200 Hyunmoo-5 missiles and that a version could be developed by the RoK Navy.
The missile weighs 36 tonnes and can carry an approximate 8 tonne warhead. Its range, depending on the size of the integrated warhead, is 300–3,000 km. The missile is estimated to have a length of about 16 m and a diameter of 1.6 m.
Hyunmoo-5 is also part of a wider family of Hyunmoo missile systems, which have been developed by ADD since the late 1980s.
According to ADD, the Hyunmoo family features solid propellant rockets and “enhanced inertial navigation and guidance systems”. The missile systems consist of a mobile launcher and a fire-control station. The Hyunmoo family is developed to strike stationary land targets, ADD said.
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South Korea displays new Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile
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