The picture shows South Korea releasing the test footage of the "Hyunmoo-5" ballistic missile. (Picture taken from X@jacquesfrd89032)
[Reporter Wu Zheyu/Comprehensive Report] South Korea has rarely disclosed the test footage of the "Hyunmoo-5" ballistic missile, which completely shows the process of the missile ejecting from the launch tube into the air through a "cold launch", igniting the main engine, and then entering powered flight. The biggest feature of this missile is that it can carry about 8 metric tons of super-heavy conventional warheads and is mainly targeted at North Korea's command centers, missile bases and other fortified facilities buried deep underground.
The military news website "Army Recognition" reported that South Korea released the latest footage of Hyunmoo-5 on the 1st. The missile adopts a two-section solid fuel design, is installed in a cylindrical launch tube, and is carried by a 9-axis mobile launch vehicle. Existing data estimates that the launch weight is about 36 tons, the length is about 15 to 20 meters, and the diameter is about 1.6 meters.
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The screen shows that Xuanwu-5 is first ejected upward from the launch tube. After leaving the car body, the main engine is ignited, and then the stabilizing device is deployed. The cold launch method can reduce the load caused by high-temperature and high-pressure tail flames on the launch vehicle, and also help troops quickly evacuate their positions after completing the launch.
Hyunmoo-5 attracts the most attention for its super-heavy warhead. South Korean sources generally indicate that the payload is about 8 metric tons, and some estimates even reach 9 metric tons. In the earth-penetrating configuration, the range is generally estimated to be about 300 kilometers; if the weight of the warhead is reduced, open source data suggests that the range may extend to thousands of kilometers, but South Korean officials have not announced detailed performance.
Different from the pursuit of large-scale explosion, Xuanwu-5 emphasizes the production of huge kinetic energy with high weight, high precision and high terminal speed. It is reported that the warhead uses a large amount of high-density materials. When it hits, it concentrates the energy into the rock formations and reinforced concrete, and then the internal explosives detonate after penetration, which is used to destroy or even collapse deep underground facilities.
South Korea's development of this weapon can be traced back to the early 2010s. The United States and South Korea lifted restrictions on the weight of South Korean missile warheads in 2017, and then lifted remaining range and other restrictions in 2021 to relax the development of the Hyunmoo series; Hyunmoo-5 will enter mass production preparations at the end of 2023, and begin operational deployment at the end of 2025.
Hyunmoo-5 has also been included in South Korea's "three-axis system", especially the "Massive Punitive Retaliation" (KMPR) responsible for conventional retaliation. South Korea's Defense Minister Ahn Gyubo previously stated that in the face of North Korea's nuclear threat, it will significantly increase the number of high-power missiles; the military's long-term goal is to establish a stockpile of hundreds of Hyunmoo-5 and its successors.
For South Korea, which does not have nuclear weapons, Hyunmoo-5 provides a land-based means to quickly attack high-value underground targets in North Korea without having to send manned fighters deep into enemy territory. The current mass production and troop deployment are being carried out simultaneously, which also shows that Seoul is continuing to strengthen its conventional precision strike capabilities against North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile facilities.
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