[정치][단독] ① “It’s just a few seconds”…SLBM underwater injection test’creaking’

▲ The Hyeonmu-2B ballistic missile that our military is converting into SLBM

We also made SLBM?

On January 13th, a media report reported that our military had succeeded in a ground injection test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). Prior to the underwater launch, I installed a vertical launch tube on land last year and fired several times. The SLBM development process is largely divided into three stages: ground injection test → underwater injection test → submarine test launch. Now you have the first button on. At the time, the Ministry of National Defense expressed confidence that “individual verification of unit power is limited,” and that “we have the capability to respond to short-range missiles in North Korea through power modernization, and we plan to further complement this in the future.” It was also interpreted as a statement that officially recognized the development of SLBM. The media coverage went ahead with the fact that our military has already created the SLBM. However, the content reported by YTN was a little different.

“I went down in a few seconds”

It was confirmed by YTN coverage that our military conducted the second stage’underwater injection test’ in the development of the submarine-launched ballistic missile SLBM. The underwater injection test literally means shooting a missile underwater. The first exam was last January. The results are said to have been inconvenient. A military source said, “The missile sprang out of the water, and in a matter of seconds it went down.” Military authorities reorganized the line and took the second test in late last month (March). But again, the red light turned on. Some say that the Vertical Launch System is wrong. A senior military official explained, “It’s a secret project, so I can’t say it specifically, but there was a shock during the underwater injection process, so we’re making up for it.” However, he drew a line saying that “there was no problem with the SLBM” and that it was not’failure’.

▲ U.S. Navy SLBM Trident-2 (Trident-II) test launch failure scene (1988)

SLBMs usually mount missiles in a submarine vertical launch tube and fire from a sunken state to a depth of 10m to 20m. As it is an underwater launch, it uses the’Cold Launch’ method rather than the’Hot Launch’ that ignites the rocket directly from the launch tube. It is a’double launch’ in which the missile is first pushed out of the water using the compressed gas in the launch tube and then the rocket is sprayed in the air. At this time, the most important thing is’position control’. It is the process of getting the right angle so that the missiles bouncing out of the water can hit the sea level and soar. Missile expert Jang Young-geun, a professor at Aviation University, said, “The cold drone technology on the ground may have some ground in our military, but underwater cold drones are a completely different problem.” “Since there are so many variables such as ocean currents, water pressure, and waves, advanced technology is required.” “If the rocket erupts without being properly positioned, it will explode in the air or fall shortly afterward,” he explained.

Moon Jae-in government completed the development within the term?

Of course, you can experience trial and error during the development process. North Korea, which developed SLBM ahead of us, has also suffered numerous failures. North Korea’s first SLBM’North Pole’ was known to the world after the successful’underwater injection test’ using a barge on May 9, 2015. And on August 24, 2016, it took more than a year for the SLBM mounted on a Sinpo-class submarine to fly 500 km. In the meantime, there are only 3 failures that have been confirmed. In December 2015, news that the submarine was damaged due to the failure to launch the SLBM was reported through foreign media. Mounting the missile directly on the submarine and firing it failed several times, even at the final stage of SLBM development, even more advanced than ours.

▲ North Korean SLBM’North Pole Type-1′ test launch scene (August 25, 2016)

However, as the underwater injection test hits the wall, a disruption in our military’s SLBM development plan is expected to be inevitable. In particular, the military is in a hurry, considering the completion of the development within the term of the Moon Jae-in administration. This is because there are still many mountains to overcome. Two 3,000-ton submarines equipped with SLBM have already been launched. If SLBM development is delayed, submarine power-up will also be delayed. Or maybe only empty traps have to navigate underwater without live ammunition. A bigger controversy is whether SLBM without nuclear warheads really makes strategic sense.

※ Follow-up article: ②’Red bean bread without bean paste’… SLBM without nuclear warhead, effective

[저작권자(c) YTN & YTN plus 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]