S. Korea builds guided missile tipped with torpedo

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, June 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said Monday it has completed the
development of a guided missile that is first launched into the air before
submerging underwater to release a torpedo.

The "Korean Anti-Submarine Missile," or KASM, will be deployed on the country's
most advanced destroyers starting next year after mass production, the
government-run Agency for Defense Development (ADD) said.
The KASM, which can travel over 20 kilometers in the air, carries a lightweight
torpedo that is unleashed in the water to find and destroy a target, ADD said in
a statement.
Nicknamed "Red Shark," the rocket comes after nine years of development, ADD said.
A 2004-built torpedo dubbed "Blue Shark" is loaded into the missile and
parachuted into the water to minimize impact, ADD noted.
"The missile can effectively evade enemy detection because it hits its underwater
target after flying over the water," an ADD official explained.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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