Navy to equip boats with portable missiles

By Yoo Jee-ho SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Yonhap) -- The Navy said Tuesday its high-speed patrol boats will be equipped with portable, anti-ship missiles to target North Korea's flying hovercraft. "Starting late this month, our speed boats in the Yellow Sea will carry anti-ship Mistral missiles," a Navy official said, referring to the French weapon. "From January to June, we and the Agency for Defense Development had a series of tests and concluded the missiles could be loaded onto the boats." According to the Navy, its current speed boats carry 40-millimeter guns, but they may not be able to catch up to flying hovercraft traveling at high speeds in the tense Yellow Sea. Introduced here in 1991, Mistral can destroy targets up to 6 kilometers away and can travel at mach 2.6. Military experts have said high-speed boats may be more effective with portable anti-tank rockets, such as the Panzerfaust 3 or Metis M, than anti-ship missiles. North Korea has equipped its patrol boats with anti-tank rockets and anti-tank guided missiles, experts said.