Page 110 - Australian Defence Magazine Dec-Jan 2023

110 REGIONAL CAPABILITIES
DECEMBER 2022-JANUARY 2023 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
eral John Hyten said that it came “close enough”, demon- strating that China possessed a hitherto unknown space capability that caught western intelligence by surprise.
Next door, the Korean peninsula is also engaged in its own missile race. Nuclear-armed North Korea, knowing it cannot compete militarily with the US and a more prosper- ous South Korea, has instead poured its resources into de- veloping a range of ballistic missiles as its deterrent against possible attack.
Fighter, while there are plans to integrate the AGM-158 Joint Air to Surface Stand-off Missile (JASSM) on Japa- nese F-15Js that are being upgraded.
However, Japan is still planning on being able to hit tar- gets further afield. It is reportedly in “late stage” talks with the US to acquire the Tomahawk cruise missile, while it is continuing with efforts to develop its own indigenous long-range weapons. These include programs to develop hypersonic weapons, with R&D ongoing into missile pow- ered by a scramjet engine as well as a boost-glide weapon.
It also seeks to increase the range of its Type 12 anti- ship missile from 200 to 900 km (125 to 560 miles) and eventually to 1,500 km (940 miles). The improved Type 12 will also see a redesign of its missile body, to incorporate a more low-observable shape.
LOITERING/SWARMING TECHNOLOGIES
Another “way of the future” that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is demonstrating is the value of loitering muni- tions. Although slower than missiles, such systems – com- monly known as ‘kamikaze drones’ – could present a chal- lenge to air defences when used in sufficient numbers.
Russia has used such weapons in both strategic and tacti- cal roles, utilising the Iranian-built Shaheed-131 and 136 programmable system to strike fixed Ukrainian targets from long range while employing the Russian-built Zala Kub and
It claims to have developed nuclear war- heads for its intercontinental ballistic missiles as well as smaller, tactical nuclear weapons for shorter ranged weapons, and is increasing the survivability of its ballistic missile arsenal byimprovingtheirmobilityandevendevelop- ing a submarine launched ballistic missile.
Lancet man-in-the-loop loitering munitions against tactical targets nearer the front lines. Unsurprisingly both China and Taiwan have developed, or are introducing, such systems into their military inventories. At the recent Zhuhai Airshow, several Chi- nese domestic defence companies showed off different designs of loitering munitions encompassing a wide range of range, endur-
ance and size classes.
Two of these designs look to have been
adapted for the Norinco PHL-11 modular multiple-launch rocket system. Mounted on a 6x6 truck chassis, the PHL-11 can fire rockets ranging from 122mm
rockets to 610mm short-range ballistic missiles.
The loitering munitions on display with the PHL-11 at Zhuhai was named the Loitering Dragon 60A and 60B, with the former having a solid nosecone suggesting it used either programmable satellite navigation or a combination of the former allied to a seeker; while the latter had an
electro-optical turret for man-in-the-loop control.
Two other ground-based, vehicle-launched systems were on display at the show. Both of these utilised a box launch- er mounted on the back of a small 6x6 utility vehicle, the larger of these carrying 18 while another version developed by the China Electronic Technology Group Corporation (CETC) carried 48 smaller loitering munitions that look
similar to the US Switchblade 300.
Chinese state TV showed a clip of the latter in April. The
TV segment also showed the munition can be launched by helicopter, deploying a drogue parachute for stabilisation before releasing it to fly to a target under operator control.
A new class of loitering munitions revealed at Zhuhai
In a bid to counter this, South Korea has
been developing its own missile arsenal with
its Hyunmoo family of cruise and ballistic
missiles. These can target all of North Ko-
rea from anywhere in the South, and bunker
buster versions with a 2,500 kg (5,500-lb) warhead have been test-fired.
More importantly, South Korea is seeking to improve its kill chain to enable it to target time-sensitive, mobile tar- gets such as the North’s mobile missile launch vehicles. The country regularly fires its missiles into offshore wa- ters in the immediate aftermath of North Korean missile tests, in a bid to show that it has the capability to respond quickly if the need arises.
Across the East China Sea, Japan has been pursuing its own long-range strike capabilities in recent years. Previ- ously constrained from fielding such weapons by a very strict interpretation of its pacifist constitution drafted in the wake of World War II, it has in recent years sought to unshackle itself from such limitations, driven by China’s military modernisation programs and North Korea’s bal- listic missile arsenal.
These longer-ranged capabilities include air-launched stand-off weapons such as the Kongsberg Joint Strike Missile. These will be fitted to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s Lockheed-Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike
“MEANWHILE, HYPERSONIC WEAPONS AREALSOBEINGRAPIDLY INTRODUCED IN THE REGION”
ROK MND