The South Korean Navy plans to build nine 3,000-ton submarines by 2030 to increase the length of its underwater operations and improve its precision strike capabilities, a military source said Sunday.

“The Navy has set up a plan to secure nine 3,000-ton submarines in stages between 2020 and 2030,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “They started working on a precise design for the first two submarines early this year.”

The new submarines will be equipped with vertical launchers that will dramatically improve the long-range precision strike capabilities of the Navy‘s submarine-to-surface missiles, according to the source. (Yonhap News)