March 12th, 2013 at 8:26 am » Comments (12)

This is likely just a demonstration of US resolve to protect South Korea because I cannot believe anyone is taking the North’s threats of launching a nuclear attack seriously: After two Korea-U.S. joint military drills end, American vessels equipped with nuclear weapons will stay in South Korean waters to fully guarantee the U.S. “nuclear umbrella” in case North Korea attacks. A high-ranking South Korean government official told the JoongAng Ilbo yesterday, “If North Korea makes a nuclear attack, retaliation can come from U.S. nuclear weapons stationed in Okinawa or Guam.
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January 13th, 2013 at 6:40 pm » Comments (7)

According to a Korean language article on the Chosun Ilbo’s Military News website , China has developed an anti-submarine aircraft comparable to the P3 Orion.  The Chinese converted their Y-9 transport aircraft, which has an AWACS variant already. The aircraft features a new long range search radar comparable to the P-3 and Magnetic Anomaly Detector equipment. The article points out that this makes sense as part of a long term strategy on China’s part. The Shaanxi Y-9 transport model has the following specifications: Specifications Flight crew: 4 Cargo cabin size:
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September 4th, 2010 at 10:09 pm » Comments (4)

The long awaited anti-submarine drill between the US and South Korea has been put to a hold due to yet another typhoon that could be bearing down on the Korean peninsula: A tropical storm approaching the Yellow Sea has prompted the U.S. and South Korea to postpone a joint anti-submarine warfare exercise, according to U.S. Forces Korea spokesman David Oten.The exercise, designed to “send a clear message of deterrence to North Korea,” was to have started Sunday and run through Sept. 9, according to a USFK news release. “There’s just
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June 6th, 2010 at 5:02 am » Comments (5)

I don’t know enough about what a Navy anti-submarine exercise is to determine if this had any relevance: The night a torpedo-armed North Korean submarine allegedly sank a South Korean patrol ship, the U.S. and South Korea were engaged in joint anti-submarine warfare exercises just 75 miles away, military officials told The Associated Press. The blast that sank the Cheonan, the worst South Korean military disaster since the 1950-53 Korean War, showed how impoverished nations such as North Korea can still inflict heavy casualties on far better equipped and trained
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May 30th, 2010 at 6:38 pm » Comments (22)

This seems more like a political show of creating the appearance of doing something in response to the Cheonan sinking: The U.S. and South Korea are planning two major military exercises off the Korean Peninsula in response to North Korea’s torpedo attack on a South Korean warship.Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters on Monday the joint exercises conducted in the “near future” will test the nations’ ability to defeat submarines and to monitor and prevent illicit activities. Whitman says the exercises are being planned as a result of the March
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January 10th, 2010 at 5:09 am » Comments (0)

Korea has announced its latest expansion of its naval assets: The German Type 214 was selected by Korea over the French/Spanish Scorpene Class that has been ordered by Chile, India, and Malaysia. Some would argue that U-214s are the most advanced diesel-electric submarines on the market, with an increased diving depth of over 400 meters, an optimized hull and propeller design, ultra-modern internal systems, and an Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system that lets the diesel submarine stay submerged for long periods without needing to surface and snorkel air. South Korea
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June 23rd, 2009 at 11:05 am » Comments (6)

This seems pretty cool: South Korea has succeeded in developing a guided missile that is fired into the air before releasing a torpedo against a submarine underwater, the Agency for Defense Development said Monday. The “Korean Anti-Submarine Missile,” or KASM, will be deployed on the country’s most advanced destroyers starting next year, said the ADD affiliated with the Defense Ministry. The missile can travel more than 20 kilometers in the air and carries a lightweight torpedo nicknamed “Red Shark.” It took nine years for ADD to develop the rocket system.
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March 27th, 2009 at 1:00 am » Comments (5)

Well we now know why the Chinese Navy recently confronted a US Navy vessel conducting sonar surveillance in the area: The Chinese navy has a new submarine base on Hainan Island, according to the latest Defense Department report on Chinese military power. The report comes about two weeks after a Military Sealift Command contract surveillance ship was accosted by five Chinese vessels about 75 miles south of Hainan Island. “The base appears large enough to accommodate a mix of attack and ballistic missile submarines and advanced surface combatant ships,” the
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October 29th, 2008 at 5:50 am » Comments (1)

They really do have everything in the Guinness Book of World Records: A Korean submarine operator has broken the record for the longest accident-free operation and made the Guinness Book of Records. The record was broken by Kim Won-jang (48), a director of Seoguipo Submarine, a private tourist submarine operator in Jeju, and Kim Kwang-hyun (44), a division chief of the firm. On Monday they received official certification from the London-based Guinness World 18 years, nine months and 26 days of accident-free operations for from Dec. 22, 1988 until Oct.
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October 22nd, 2008 at 7:09 am » Comments (2)

Another line of defense to sink any Japanese research vessels thinking of invading Dokdo: Lawmakers of the National Assembly Defense Committee aboard the next-generation Korean submarine “Son Won-il” at the port of Pohang Tuesday. They also visited the easternmost islets of Dokdo as part of efforts to inspect the country’s defense posture.  [Korea Times]