ASM/SSM-700K Sea Star (Haesung / Haeseong / Haesong)
The South Korean Agency for Defense Development publicly revealed development of this 150 kilometer-range ship-to-ship cruise missile in November 1998. The Sea Star (Haesung) is a long-range cruise missile, similar to the Harpoon missile. The antecedents of this weapon are unknown although it is described as being in the Harpoon class.
The ADD set aside W100 billion (US$100 million) was poured into development of the state-of-the-art ship-to-ship Haesung cruise missile between 1996 and 2003 to replace U.S.-made Harpoon missiles. The USD98 million program began in 1996, with LG Innotek (later Nex1 Future and now LIG Nex1) as its industrial partner. The country will spend 270 billion won ($285 million) on the project.The total program was claimed to be worth USD650 million, but this may understate the total cost.
According to some reports, its effective radius is around 150 km. Other reports state that, launched off a warship, submarine or aircraft, the weapon can strike any vessel and even land targets within its 400-500 km range. The missile, which has a longer range than the Styx anti-ship missile and is more accurate, flies just above the surface and is thus difficult to intercept.
Firing trials of pre-production weapons were conducted from the Po Hang-class corvette An Dong, culminating on 21 August 2003 with a test involving a live warhead. Pre-production weapons appeared in 2004 and it was reported that it was designated Haeseong (Sea Star) or SSM-700K. The first Haeseong production weapon was successfully tested on 20 December 2005 and was scheduled to enter full-rate production in 2006. Defense Minister Yun Kwang-ung said in 2006 that South Korea had conducted at least 10 cruise missile flight tests over the last three years. On 1 October 2006 it was announced that 100 Haeseong missiles had been ordered under a contract worth the equivalent of USD285 million for delivery by 2010 while the first 30 production weapons, ordered earlier, would enter service in 2007.
The Haeseong cruise missile will be mounted on patrol combat corvettes and other warships. The South Korean Navy intended to deploy cruise missiles on three 1,800-ton-class diesel submarines, scheduled for procurement in 2007, and on its operational KDX-II destroyers, as well as on KDX-III destroyers, which were scheduled to begin deployment in 2008.
