South Korea Launches First 3000-ton Class Daewoo-made Submarine

Daewoo Shipbuilding delivered South Korean Navy’s first 3,000-ton-class submarine capable of firing submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).

The commissioning ceremony for the mid-class diesel air-independent propulsion submarine, named after South Korean independence leader Dosan Ahn Chang-ho, took place at the Okpo Shipyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. on the southern island of Geoje.

"After deployment, the submarine will take an active role as the country's strategic weapons system against threats," the South Korean Navy said in a release.

The vessel is the first of three 3,000-ton-class Changbogo-III Batch-I submarines that South Korea plans to build by 2023 with its own technologies under a 3.09 trillion won (US$2.7 billion) project launched in 2007.

The latest submarine was domestically designed with 76 percent of its component parts locally made.

The 83.5-meter-long and 9.6-meter-wide submarine can carry 50 crewmembers and is capable of firing submarine-to-ground ballistic missiles with six vertical launching tubes. It can operate underwater for 20 days without surfacing, the Navy release said.

The Navy said the Dosan Ahn Chang-ho will be deployed by August next year after a series of trials. South Korea currently operates 1,200-ton and 1,800-ton submarines.