SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has approved two major defense programs aimed at improving its naval strike and armored warfare capabilities: the domestically developed Ship-to-Ship Missile-II (SSM-II) and a large-scale performance improvement program for the K2 main battle tank.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) approved the basic program strategies for both projects during the 177th Defense Acquisition Program Promotion Committee meeting held on August 11 at the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul.
SSM-II to Provide Longer-Range Anti-Ship Capability
The SSM-II program is intended to develop a new domestic anti-ship missile with greater range and improved target detection and tracking compared with the Republic of Korea Navy’s existing SSM-700K Haeseong-I.
The current Haeseong-I has a range of about 150 kilometers, while the SSM-II is planned to have roughly twice the range. DAPA said the new missile is being developed to provide improved long-range precision strike capability against surface targets.
The program will be carried out through domestic research and development, with the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) leading the system development work. A total of approximately 1.63 trillion won is planned for development and production from 2028 through 2039.
System development is planned from 2028 to 2033, followed by mass production from 2034. The development period will include integration with naval combat systems as well as testing and evaluation.
The missile is planned to use a turbofan engine instead of the turbojet engine used on the existing Haeseong-I. It will also incorporate a stealth-shaped design. The supplied program details also identify network-enabled engagement capabilities, including the Link-K datalink, as part of the missile's planned capabilities.
The SSM-II is expected to be deployed on South Korea's next-generation KDDX destroyers. DAPA has also indicated that the missile could eventually be offered together with South Korean-built warships as part of future export packages.
The program is also referred to as the Haeseong-II project in some reporting. Its development is intended to provide South Korea with a longer-range domestic anti-ship weapon while improving detection and tracking performance.
K2 Tank Upgrade Program
DAPA also approved the performance improvement program for South Korea's K2 main battle tanks.
The program is planned to run from 2028 through 2046, with approximately 3.448 trillion won allocated to the project. System development is scheduled to be completed by 2032, with upgraded tanks expected to begin entering service sequentially from 2033.
The modernization will add an active protection system (APS) designed to detect and intercept incoming threats. The upgraded K2s will also receive jammers for drones and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and a remote-controlled weapon station (RCWS).
The changes are intended to improve the K2's ability to respond to threats such as anti-tank weapons and drones.
Two Long-Term Defense Programs
The SSM-II and K2 modernization programs will be developed over different timelines but both are based on domestic development and upgrades to existing South Korean military capabilities.
The SSM-II will focus on extending the range and improving the detection and tracking capabilities of South Korea's ship-to-ship missile force, while the K2 program will add systems intended to improve the tank's protection and response against newer battlefield threats.
Further technical specifications for the SSM-II are expected to become available as the formal development phase begins in 2028.
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