South Korea launched 4 ships at the same time!

Now, major countries’ navy battleships are getting bigger and bigger, with 10,000-ton frigates and 10,004-ton destroyers becoming commonplace. South Korea may be the only country in the world’s major navies still producing small high-speed gunboats due to specific marine concerns. The attack mechanism of this type of warship, the “Rocket Killer Patrol Boat”, is unique.

The PKMR patrol boat, unlike the 500-ton missile boat “Yin Yongxia” class outfitted by the South Korean Navy at the same time, did not have its ship designation due to its tiny tonnage. The PKMR-226, 227, 228, and 229 boats took to the water. They are scheduled to be delivered by the end of the year due to their tiny tonnage and quick construction. Within two months after obtaining it, the ROK Navy will begin deployment. Following that, the ROK Navy will outfit the second batch of PKMR boats.

Since the two Yeonpyeong Island naval conflicts, the “Northern Maritime Boundary” line has been at risk of further confrontation as the ROK Navy’s major fictional opponent.

After the old-fashioned “Tiger Head Sea Eagle” PKM-357 boat commanded by Yin Yongxia was sunk by the naval gunboat of its northern neighbor in the second naval battle of Yanping Island in 2002, South Korea began to develop a new generation of high-speed missiles/patrol boats, called “Tiger Head Sea Eagle” PKM-357. The 570-ton “Yin Yongxia” class (PKX-A) was born with four SSM-700K “Sea Star” anti-ship missiles and a 76mm main gun, while the PKX-B is a smaller and less expensive new high-speed gunboat.

PKX-B, which was renamed “Medium Rocket Killer Patrol Boat” (PKMR) in 2016, was launched in 2016 and began serving in 2017. It has a displacement of just over 200 tons, but it, like the “Yin Yongxia” class, has a highly luxury diesel-fueled combined power in small gunboats, with two GE LM500 gas turbines and two Caterpillar diesel engines driving three water jets at a top speed of 40 knots.

In comparison to the anti-ship missile-equipped “Yin Yongxia” class, the PKMR boat’s primary armament is a 76mm rapid-fire gun from Italy, but no anti-ship missiles are mounted. The boat has a 130mm 12-unit guided rocket launcher built by LIG Nex1 at the stern. This rocket has a range of up to 20 kilometers and uses a unique infrared thermal image guidance system. It also can “fire and ignore.” It’s the perfect weapon to use against small gunboats.

It should be said that this is a precision weapon for surface warfare that is cheaper and more efficient than anti-ship missiles, and it is very targeted. The northern opponent, but its main gun is only 40mm, the fear of being hoisted by the 85mm tank gun and 14.5mm carrier-based machine gun on the northern small gunboat has dominated until now.

This fight, together with the artillery battle on Yeonping Island in 2010, had a significant impact on the South Korean Navy’s ocean-going and large-scale development. Only three 10,000-ton guided-missile destroyers of the KDX-III “King Sejong” class were built. To centralize offshore operations, the 3,000-ton FFX series (first batch of Incheon-class, second batch of Daegu-class) frigates and dozens of new missile boats and gunboats were recently stopped (the second batch of construction has only recently begun)ability.