A few days ago, an accident occurred during the Korean Navy's live-fire exercise, and another mistake occurred. When a tiger-headed sea eagle-class patrol boat was conducting live-fire training on the south coast, a grenade in the hand of a sailor accidentally dropped and exploded, causing the seven sailors participating in training together on the deck to be injured. Fortunately, no deaths were caused, but two people were seriously injured. According to the Defense World website, the incident occurred around 12:20 noon. The patrol ship was located near Juji Island and conducted a live-fire exercise. The grenade in one of the sailors accidentally slipped down, causing an explosion. The South Korean Navy has stopped all live-fire training in recent times and formed an investigation team to investigate the cause of the accident.
Many people doubt why sailors carry grenades when training live ammunition, which is not land combat after all. But the South Korean Navy has its own special national conditions after all. The Hutou Sea Eagle Class is the main near-shore patrol boat of the South Korean army. In addition to coastal defense patrols, complex coastline patrols are also an important task. In the 1960s and 1970s, special forces were often dispatched to infiltrate the nearshore of South Korea. Therefore, when Korean naval soldiers perform patrol missions, they are basically fully armed, including K-2 rifles, grenades, bulletproof vests, helmets, and helmets. Training for shooting machine guns at sea is even more common, and the skilled requirements for guns are no less than that of the Army. Referring to the previous Yanping Island naval battle, the speedboats between the two countries often fought very close-range battles, which were extremely dangerous, and soldiers on both sides often used infantry weapons to shoot fiercely at each other. But it is not known whether the grenade was bounced out after falling, or whether the soldier made a mistake in operation before.
In South Korea, which is a national conscript system, the service period of ordinary naval soldiers is 26 months. Since many young people take off from school, they are generally young, only over 20 years old. In addition, the service period is short and the training time is insufficient, so many young soldiers often lack professional abilities. And among technical troops like the Navy and Air Force, such problems will be even more serious. Therefore, various accidents often occur in the South Korean military. But this is also one of the few major accidents in the Navy. Although weapons like grenades are indeed more dangerous for new recruits, for qualified soldiers, ensuring the correct and safe operation of grenades is not a high requirement.
Tigerhead Sea Eagle Class is the largest warship in the South Korean Navy. It has been gradually retired, but there are still 52 ships in service. Due to the small space of the hull, serving on this boat is also a chore. This class of boats is generally on the front line of coastal defense, and the danger is greater than that of those large ships, . The patrol boat belongs to the 32nd Patrol Fleet of the Third Fleet in Mokpo, southern South Korea. The Third Fleet is responsible for patrol and defense missions from the southern waters of South Korea to the Tsukuma Strait. In addition to preventing infiltration from the north, we also need to support the front-line fleets. The Third Fleet consists of four Pohang-class frigates, and the remaining ones are patrol boats.
At present, the South Korean Navy is replacing the Hutou Sea Eagle class with two new types of ships. Thanks to the rapid development of South Korea's shipbuilding industry in recent years, South Korea has begun to integrate more weapons and equipment on small ships in order to overwhelm North Korea's artillery patrol boats. The latest Yin Yongxia-class displacement reaches 450 tons, integrating advanced radar and communication equipment. It is equipped with a 76mm Otto naval gun, a Bofos 40mm naval gun, and 4 SSM-700K starfish anti-ship missiles, and its firepower is strong enough to approach the original Pohang-class light frigate. Currently, 18 ships have been equipped. Due to the high cost, the South Korean Navy has developed a tiger-head sea eagle-level improved model with a displacement of 200 tons. But it is also equipped with a 76mm naval gun and 12 130mm guided rockets . Such a small boat carrying cannons was also the experience of the fierce firepower of the Chinese-made Type 62 artillery escort boat from the neighboring countries in the north. After all, North Korea's patrol ships generally have 85mm tank guns. Although the accident is far away from the dangerous military demarcation area, the South Korean Navy still has to spend some trouble to investigate and train troops. (Military Fish)
