Submarine Export
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) exported submarines for the first time in Korea. In 1988, this rare feat was accomplished in 30 years since Korea has made a lot of efforts to develop its own submarine after receiving technology from Germany.
On July 2, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) held a ceremony in honor of the delivery of the first submarine among three 1400 ton-class submarines which the Indonesian Ministry of Defense asked DSME to build in 2011 at Okpo Shipyard on Geoje Island. The ceremony was attended by 80 VIPs including Ryamizard Ryacudu, Indonesian defense minister, Ade Spandi, chief of staff of the Indonesian Navy, and Jung Sung-rip, president of DSME.
The submarine delivered on this day was named the Nagapasa after the arrow used by ancient Hindu god Idrajit. The 61-meter-long 1,400-ton submarine can sail a distance of 10,000 nautical miles (18,820 km) with 40 crewmembers. The distance spans from Busan Port to LA Port of the United States. The vessel is armed with eight launchers and an advanced weapon system capable of launching weapons such as torpedoes and mines. "The Nagapasa is excellent in terms of underwater operation capability, which is the most important aspect of submarines," said a representative of DSME. “In particular, we have proven our excellence in submarine technology that is evaluated as the highest level of shipbuilding technology by carrying out all the building process including design, production and test operation.
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering's three submarines ordered by Indonesia amounted to about US$ 1.1 billion, the largest amount among Korea's defense hardware exports. This amount is equivalent to exports of 73,000 medium-sized cars made in Korea. With this successful export, Korea has become the world's fifth largest exporter of submarines after Britain, France, Russia and Germany.