According to the plan, these missiles will be put into mass production this year and delivered completely before 2025. The author first came into contact with KTSSM tactical ballistic missiles at the 2017 Seoul International Aerospace and Military Industry Exhibition. So, what impact will this new weapon, known as "Korean version of ATACMS", have on the current situation on the Korean Peninsula?
KTSSM tactical ballistic missiles displayed at Seoul Air Show.
Projectile-Rocket Co-Rack Technology Originated from America
The author was really surprised when he first saw the live ammunition of KTSSM tactical ballistic missiles at the Seoul International Aerospace and Military Industry Exhibition in 2017. Because the shape design and size of this missile are really very close to the US Army ATACMS tactical ballistic missile, it can almost be said to be a "twin brother". However, from the development process, there is no direct connection between the two. At that time, Hanwha, the R&D manufacturer of KTSSM tactical ballistic missiles, also exhibited its predecessor, the K-BATS ballistic missile target.
K-BATS is the English abbreviation of "Korean Ballistic Aviation Target System", and its main design purpose is to provide "imaginary targets" for the Patriot -3 anti-missile system purchased by South Korea from the United States and the KM-SAM medium-range air defense anti-missile system jointly developed by South Korea and Russia. We know that all kinds of tactical ballistic missiles equipped by the North Korean military have always been the biggest threat facing South Korea. Therefore, in order to better resist North Korea’s ballistic missiles, South Korea must also develop a target that can effectively simulate the ballistic characteristics and flight performance of the former, so as to test the anti-missile capabilities of Patriot -3 and KM-SAM air defense systems.
However, in design, South Korea did not choose the "Xuanwu" series ballistic missiles as the template, but referred to the layout design of American ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles (which were introduced to South Korea as supporting ammunition for M270 rocket launchers) to complete the research and development of K-BATS ballistic missile targets. Therefore, when the K-BATS ballistic missile target is developed and finalized in 2016, its shape, size and total weight are indeed very similar to ATACMS. However, as a target bomb, K-BATS is not equipped with warhead, so the warhead part is different from ATACMS. Moreover, its launching device is relatively simple, just adopting a fixed launching box structure.
K-239 "Tianwu" Ⅰ modular self-propelled rocket launcher.
Later, with the improvement plan of a new generation of "Tianwu" II modular self-propelled rocket launcher independently developed by South Korea, K-BATS began to upgrade from target bombs to real tactical ballistic missiles, which is now KTSSM. K-239 "Tianwu" I modular self-propelled rocket launcher is a new generation of long-range precision strike weapon developed by Hanwha Company in 2009, and its design reference object is naturally M270 long-range rocket launcher imported from the United States. However, according to its mountainous landform and good highway conditions, South Korea chose the 8×8 heavy military truck chassis instead of the crawler chassis.
This type of rocket was put into service in 2015, and its launch/self-loading integrated system almost completely imitated the design mode of M270, which can launch Korean domestic 130mm and 239mm rockets, and also load and launch M270′ s 227mm rocket modular box. Therefore, K-239 "Tianwu" I can be generalized with M270 in ammunition, which is more conducive to the unification of logistics supply in combat. However, when K-239 "Tianwu" I was originally designed, it did not support the development of tactical ballistic missiles similar to ATACMS, but retained M270′ s missile-and-arrow co-frame technology. It was not until the K-BATS target missile was successfully developed that Hanwha Company developed the KTSSM tactical ballistic missile for the K-239 "Tianwu" II, based on this and drawing lessons from the overall layout of ATACMS.
Sharp weapon against North Korea’s long-range artillery
At the 2017 Seoul International Aerospace and Military Industry Exhibition, the author first saw the propaganda video of KTSSM tactical ballistic missile test hitting the bull’s-eye of the bunker target. Moreover, in 2020, South Korea also released a video of this type of missile hitting a maritime target, which also hit the bull’s-eye accurately, causing a wide discussion in the domestic military media for a time. In fact, many media often confuse KTSSM tactical ballistic missiles with the "Xuanwu" series ballistic missiles previously developed and equipped by South Korea, and some even think that the former is the latest generation of "Xuanwu" -4 ballistic missiles. But in fact, KTSSM does not belong to the "Xuanwu" series of ballistic missiles, and the difference between them is quite large.
In terms of overall dimensions, KTSSM tactical ballistic missiles are much smaller than Xuanwu series ballistic missiles, with a diameter of 600 mm, a length of 4 meters and a total weight of about 1.5 tons. The "Xuanwu" -2 ballistic missile has a diameter of more than 1 meter and a length of 7.75 meters, which is almost twice that of KTSSM. The latest generation of "Xuanwu" -4 ballistic missile uses two-stage thrusters, and its length is further increased, which basically belongs to the same level as Pershing II equipped by the US Army in that year and reaches the category of medium-range ballistic missile.
"Tianwu" rocket launcher can launch KTSSM tactical ballistic missiles with different diameters.
In addition, in terms of range, there is a big gap between KTSSM tactical ballistic missiles and Xuanwu series ballistic missiles-the maximum range of the former is less than 300 kilometers, while Xuanwu -2 is 500 ~ 800 kilometers, and Xuanwu -4 can reach more than 1000 kilometers. Therefore, KTSSM tactical ballistic missile basically belongs to the tactical level strike weapon launched by frontier deployment, while "Xuanwu" -2/4 belongs to a higher level campaign strategic level long-range strike weapon.
In fact, from the operational mission, KTSSM tactical ballistic missile was developed to attack the Korean Army’s long-range artillery units, and its purpose and pertinence are very strong. The artillery unit of the Korean Army is heavily equipped with various types of large-caliber long-range artillery and rocket launchers, which not only has the ability to "turn Seoul into a sea of fire", but also its scope of attack has begun to extend rapidly to the south, developing "asymmetric combat power" to offset the conventional military advantages of South Korea and the United States. However, on the other hand, the North Korean military also knows that its air force’s air control and air defense capabilities are lower than those of the Korean army and the US troops stationed in South Korea, so all kinds of large-caliber long-range artillery and rockets are hidden in solid fortresses, bunkers and even underground fortifications.
In order to effectively destroy these long-range artillery and rocket launchers with high-level protection, the Korean army has been vigorously developing various advanced weapons with penetration and strike capability in recent years. The most typical one is the introduction of Taurus air-launched long-range cruise missiles from Europe, which are equipped on the F-15K multi-purpose heavy fighter with the strongest combat effectiveness. Then, in the development of the army’s weapons and equipment, the Korean army relies most on KTSSM tactical ballistic missiles, which are equipped with high-performance penetrating warheads to ensure that they can penetrate the fortifications of the Korean army’s fortresses and bunkers, thus becoming an important part of the "kill chain".
More importantly, KTSSM tactical ballistic missiles do not use special launch vehicles like Xuanwu series ballistic missiles, but are equipped on Tianwu II rocket launchers. Therefore, KTSSM tactical ballistic missiles are more flexible in operational use and more widely deployed, and can be launched to destroy the Korean military targets when they are found. In addition, in order to further enhance the operational capability of KTSSM tactical ballistic missiles, Hanwha Company draws lessons from the design concept of US Army PrSM tactical precision strike missiles, and plans to develop a sub-model with a diameter of 400 mm on the basis of the model with a diameter of 600 mm. In this way, a "Tianwu" II rocket launcher can be loaded with two 600 mm tactical ballistic missiles with a maximum range of 290 kilometers, or four 400 mm tactical ballistic missiles with a maximum range of 180 kilometers, or even a mixture of the two missiles, so as to better hit the target.
KTSSM tactical ballistic missile warhead model.
The intensified dispute over tactical missiles between the DPRK and the ROK
The reason why the South Korean Ministry of National Defense announced such a high-profile purchase of KTSSM tactical ballistic missiles in large quantities was also interpreted by the outside world as a response to North Korea’s grand military parade to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea in the early morning of October 10th this year. In this military parade, the DPRK army publicly displayed for the first time more than ten new types of large-caliber artillery, large-caliber rockets and ballistic missiles. In particular, the long-range rocket launcher with a caliber of 600 mm includes three models: 4-tube 8×8 wheeled, 5-tube 8×8 wheeled and 6-tube tracked. In fact, this so-called "super-large-caliber" rocket launcher is no longer a "guided rocket" to a certain extent, but is closer to tactical ballistic missiles such as KTSSM. Although its strike accuracy can’t reach the level of KTSSM’s CEP 10m, it can also achieve considerable damage efficiency by virtue of its advantages in firepower density.
In addition, the DPRK also demonstrated two kinds of chassis "Mars" -11 tactical ballistic missile launch vehicles with 8×8 wheels and crawler belts, and a new type of tactical ballistic missile launch vehicle with crawler chassis and box launcher. Therefore, as far as the "imaginary target" is concerned, the Korean KTSSM tactical ballistic missile will not only attack the various types of large-caliber artillery of the former Korean army, but also take the 600 mm ultra-large-caliber rocket launcher and the "Mars" -11 tactical ballistic missile launch vehicle as the main targets.
In recent years, under the background of increasingly fierce missile competition on the peninsula, short-range tactical ballistic missiles and large-caliber rockets of both sides have become the key areas of the game between the two sides, and their development has its own emphasis and advantages, and they are secretly competing.