The Unmanned Submarine's Debut
Taesik and CEO Park In-tak instructed their staff not to hoist the unmanned submarine onto the barge, but instead to command it to navigate autonomously to the nearby Donghae Port, while the barge was to be towed separately. For safety, the trial evaluation participants decided to return to Donghae Port on a fishing boat rather than the barge, leaving only one staff member on the barge to guard the equipment before withdrawing from the site.
Colonel Kim Ji-hong, who had boarded the fishing boat, looked at Taesik and CEO Park In-tak and said, "You have conducted the trial evaluation of Starlink Defense's unmanned submarine perfectly. I believe the naval command will issue an order to purchase these unmanned submarines immediately."
While the Starlink Defense staff were withdrawing to Donghae Port, Captain Lee Yong-wook of the ROKS Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong, having received orders from the Naval Command, commanded battle stations and turned the ship toward the designated coordinates.
"All hands to battle stations!"
Upon receiving the captain's order, the operations officer immediately picked up the internal radio and issued the battle station command. Captain Lee Yong-wook gave the steering order and increased the ship's speed.
"Full speed ahead, starboard 10 degrees."
Having increased the ship's speed to the maximum, Captain Lee Yong-wook gave an order to the sergeant in charge of the bow sonar.
"Sergeant Choi. This is a real-world situation, and we have intelligence that an unidentified submarine is in the target area. Pay close attention to the sonar search!"
"Captain, the speed is too high, making detection difficult."
"Wait a moment. I plan to reduce the ship's speed once we reach the vicinity of the target area."
Captain Lee Yong-wook personally picked up the radio and contacted the maritime patrol aircraft currently conducting operations.
"This is the Ryu Seong-ryong. Come in, 6021 Maritime Patrol Aircraft."
"Loyalty! This is Major Kim Tae-hwan of the 6021 Maritime Patrol Aircraft."
"Where is the unidentified submarine heading right now?"
"It is moving from the target location toward the open sea."
"Have they confirmed our presence?"
"Judging by the change in their heading, it appears they heard the sonobuoy drop."
"Understood! We are 20 minutes away from the target area."
Upon arriving near the target area, Captain Lee Yong-wook reduced the ship's speed and called Sergeant Choi, who was in charge of sonar. Sergeant Choi, who had been wearing a headset and checking the acoustic signature to confirm the submarine's location, was slow to respond.
"It is presumed that the unidentified submarine has confirmed the presence of the maritime patrol aircraft and has also grasped our presence. Activate active sonar immediately!"
"The enemy submarine might know our location. Are you sure, sir?"
"I am aware. Activate the active sonar!"
Sergeant Choi immediately activated the active sonar instead of the passive sonar, and the sound of the ping echoed deep into the sea.
"Enemy submarine location confirmed! It is submerged at a depth of 150m, 5km away at 20 degrees starboard."
Sergeant Choi, who had been focusing on the acoustic signature, suddenly said, "I hear the sound of air bubbles."
"What...? Does it look like they've opened the torpedo tubes?"
"No, sir. The sound is different. It looks like they are filling with air."
"Activate the active sonar again!"
Sergeant Choi activated the active sonar once more, sending a signal that he had identified the enemy submarine's location.
"The enemy submarine is increasing its depth. It appears it will surface soon."
"Tell the lookout to take photos of the scene with the camera!"
While the Ryu Seong-ryong arrived in the operational area and chased the enemy submarine, Major Kim Tae-hwan of the maritime patrol aircraft moved the aircraft's position to the front of the enemy submarine and dropped sonobuoys.
"Sergeant Choi, is there any change in the acoustic signature?"
"The enemy submarine is surfacing."
"Take photos of the surfaced enemy submarine with the telephoto lens!"
A moment later, the unidentified submarine surfaced, and the Ryu Seong-ryong and the maritime patrol aircraft took photos of it. Since the surfacing of the submarine was effectively a declaration of surrender, Captain Lee Yong-wook moved the ship's position next to the submarine and sent a message on a public channel to confirm its nationality. Despite repeated requests from the communications officer, no response came from the submarine, and the submarine's hatch opened, revealing a soldier with yellow skin. The soldier immediately raised a Russian flag above the submarine, watched the nearby Ryu Seong-ryong and the maritime patrol aircraft overhead, and then went back inside the hatch.
Finally, a response came to the Ryu Seong-ryong's persistent radio calls.
"This vessel is of Russian nationality and is moving while in training. Cease hostile actions immediately."
As the response came in broken English, the operations officer picked up the radio again.
"You have violated the territorial waters of the Republic of Korea. Withdraw to the open sea immediately."
To the operations officer's radio call, the other side continued to surface and sail toward the open sea without answering, and the Ryu Seong-ryong and the maritime patrol aircraft continued to track the Russian submarine along its path.
Having confirmed that it was a Russian submarine, Captain Lee Yong-wook personally took the radio.
"This is the ROKS Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong. Come in, Navy 1st Fleet Command!"
"This is the Operations Room. Report."
"The unidentified submarine being tracked in the East Sea has been confirmed as Russian and is currently sailing toward the open sea. It is currently surfaced, and I will continue to track it until it exits into the open sea."
"Have you confirmed it is Russian?"
"The Russian flag is raised on the submarine's mast, and it has been confirmed via radio. I have taken photos of the scene and will send them to the Command immediately."
The 1st Fleet Command reported to the Navy Headquarters after receiving the photos, and the Navy reported the fact that a Russian submarine had violated the East Sea to the Blue House via the Ministry of National Defense. The Ministry of National Defense immediately protested to the Russian Pacific Fleet Command and held the Russian submarine accountable for violating South Korean waters through diplomatic channels. Russia announced that it was a submarine in training and had no intention of hostile acts, and that evening, the news reported that an unidentified submarine had been discovered in the East Sea and the Navy had chased it out to the open sea.
Through the report of Colonel Kim Ji-hong, who attended the unmanned submarine trial evaluation, it was reported that Starlink Defense's unmanned submarine had discovered the Russian submarine, and the naval command submitted an anti-submarine capability reinforcement report to the Blue House based on Colonel Kim Ji-hong's report. The Blue House reviewed the Navy's report and immediately approved the anti-submarine capability reinforcement plan, and the Navy began an emergency procurement procedure for 30 unmanned submarines produced by Starlink Defense.
Prior to the emergency purchase, Colonel Kim Ji-hong conducted a weapons trial evaluation of the unmanned submarine that had not been confirmed, and judged it suitable for combat, and the Navy established an unmanned submarine operation plan after reviewing the unmanned submarine production schedule.
Before the main contract, Colonel Kim Ji-hong visited Starlink Defense to seek advice from CEO Park In-tak on the unmanned submarine operation plan.
"CEO Park. The Ministry of National Defense's approval has finally come down. The final purchase quantity is 30 units, and we plan to enter into a second purchase once additional funds are secured in the future."
"Hahaha. Thank you. Thanks to your efforts, Colonel Kim, the unmanned submarines are being put into service. From our perspective, we can generate sales of 500 billion won."
"No. Compared to the price of a submarine, it is a great opportunity to reinforce anti-submarine capabilities at a very low price, so the Navy would like to express its gratitude to Starlink Defense."
"Have you finalized the unmanned submarine deployment plan?"
"I actually visited to get advice on that. I'm considering two methods, and I'm torn between deploying unmanned submarines on surface ships and deploying them from land bases."
"The unmanned submarine has a 30-day endurance, so there is no problem even if you launch it from a land base. However, it will take time to reach the area where submarines appear."
"More than that, I'm worried about the possibility of losing the unmanned submarine in the nets of fishermen in the coastal waters."
"Then how about utilizing the islands where naval bases are located in the West Sea? Or you could create forward maritime bases like you do for high-speed boats."
"Ah! That's a way. I will deploy some on surface ships and utilize the existing island bases that the Navy possesses for the rest. Thank you for your advice."
CEO Park In-tak discussed several current issues regarding the unmanned submarine and then casually asked Colonel Kim a question.
"By any chance, is the Navy interested in a CIWS (Close-In Weapon System) based on AESA radar?"
"Are you talking about the Goalkeeper? As a matter of fact, the command is having a headache because news has spread that the Goalkeeper possessed by the Navy is being discontinued. Not only is the depot maintenance of the existing Goalkeeper a problem, but the price of the Phalanx, a similar model, has been increased by two times by the American company Raytheon, so the acquisition cost is expected to increase significantly. But I've never heard of a CIWS based on AESA radar."
"Starlink has already equipped T-50 series aircraft and F-16s with AESA radar, and its performance has been proven. If you mount an AESA radar instead of the Goalkeeper's mechanical radar, the ability to identify and respond to enemy missiles will also be excellent. Additionally, if you mount artificial intelligence software, you can develop a CIWS that is superior to the existing Goalkeeper."
"Is that possible?"
"Of course. We can develop it at any time if we just import the 30mm Gatling gun. The problem is the development cost and the ships to mount it on."
"I will suggest it to the command."
CEO Park In-tak asked the Navy to raise the requirement to save on development costs, and Colonel Kim Ji-hong also thought that it would be better to research and develop a domestic weapon to replace the Phalanx, which engages in 'gapjil' (abuse of power), instead of the discontinued Goalkeeper.
Some time after Colonel Kim left, he