The South Korean government announced on the 9th that it successfully tested the domestically produced "Hypersonic Boost Glide Vehicle" (HGV) for the first time. (Picture taken from Blue House)
[Reporter Wu Zheyu/Comprehensive Report] South Korea's military technology has made further progress. The South Korean government announced on the 9th that it successfully tested the domestically produced "Hypersonic Boost Glide Vehicle" (HGV) for the first time, and released the footage of the missile launch, vehicle separation and final fall into the sea. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung went to the Anheung test site in South Chungcheong Province to watch the test. The Blue House emphasized that this weapon has high-speed and irregular maneuvering flight capabilities, and can launch surprise attacks on important strategic targets in North Korea in the future, becoming a key combat force that can change the battlefield situation.
The picture shows the appearance of the "Hypersonic Boost Glide Vehicle" (HGV) produced in South Korea. (Picture taken from Blue House)
The military news website "The War Zone" reported that the test was conducted by South Korea's Defense Science Research Institute (ADD). The missile was launched vertically from a wheeled transport set up on a near-shore platform. After reaching a predetermined altitude, the hypersonic gliding vehicle successfully separated from the booster, completed its flight according to the planned path, and finally hit the sea.
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Cheong Wa Dae pointed out that this test mainly verifies core technologies such as ultra-high temperature heat-resistant materials, guidance control and low-altitude irregular maneuvering flight in a hypersonic environment. Judging from the officially released photos, the shape of the gliding vehicle is suspected to be tapered or wedge-shaped, with a stabilizing wing at the bottom. However, due to limited image resolution, the specific configuration cannot be confirmed yet.
The report pointed out that hypersonic boost glide vehicles are usually boosted by rockets to a certain height and speed. After separation, they glide in the atmosphere at speeds above Mach 5 and can change direction during flight. Compared with traditional ballistic missiles that fly along a roughly fixed arc trajectory, this type of weapon has a more difficult to predict flight path, which can shorten the reaction time of enemy radar detection, tracking and interception.
However, South Korea has not announced the maximum speed, flight distance and guidance method at the end of the flight for this test. Therefore, although some key technologies have been successfully verified, further testing is still needed before it can truly form combat capabilities.
In addition, Lee Jae-myung also inspected South Korea's latest "Hyunmoo-5" ballistic missile launcher on the same day. This missile weighs 35 tons and carries a large warhead of approximately 7.7 metric tons. It is mainly used to destroy command facilities and solid bunkers buried deep underground in North Korea. However, South Korean officials have not confirmed that this hypersonic test is directly related to Hyunmoo-5.
South Korea has been actively developing hypersonic cruise missiles and new air-launched and sea-launched ballistic missiles in recent years. North Korea has also recently successively tested new weapons claiming to have hypersonic capabilities. Coupled with the landmine incident in the Demilitarized Zone on September 21 that injured three South Korean soldiers, military tensions between the two sides continue to rise.
Lee Jae-myung said that South Korea must rely on its own strength to ensure national security. The government cannot be satisfied with the success of this test. It must continue to improve related technologies and make the hypersonic gliding vehicle a strategic asset to protect national security. If it is officially put into service in the future, in addition to strengthening its ability to attack North Korea's underground facilities and high-value targets, it may also further enhance South Korea's military deterrence capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region.
