"North and South Korean Navy's Skirmish Again" Topic

In case anyone needs a scenario for their modern naval wargaming, North and South Korea seem to be obliging:

link

It appears the SK's came off better in this incident of patrol boats shooting at one another again.

Raises the ante a bit in the Crab Wars/Deadliest Catch category…..

What were they firing? I suppose they were firing guns not missiles.

Apparently machine guns, and/or small cannons.

I believe this was a typical patrol/fast attack craft skirmish.

If missiles were fired, there wouldn't be much left of a boat, assuming countermeasures don't work as well as advertised by the marketing/sales people…..

Are there any anti-missile systems employed on small boats? I thought anti-missile guns and the likes were only used on capital ships.

Not that North Korea is likely to have any in either case…

A few, but only very high-spec ones; I seem to recall at least one of the Gulf navies has Phalanx on its missile boats, and I think a few might have RAM, which is supposed to be reasonably capable against missiles.

From a quick search, no specialist anti-missile guns for either side; a few of the larger NK boats have AK-230s, but that's a decidedly aged anti-aircraft gun with pretty negligible chance of hitting a missile.

Most of the South Korean boats have Otomat 76mm guns, which have some anti-missile capability, but I don't think anyone's ever really had to find out how much….

I was thinking more along the lines of flares and chaff for the countermeasures.

Those work sometimes, but frequently not, depending upon the tech of the incoming missiles, tech of the countermeasures, training of the crews, etc.

They're literally a bit hit and miss…. I suspect that a missile exchange between flotillas would leave an odd South Korean boat or two intact through chaff / ECM / evasive / dumb luck, and probably little more than matchwood for the other side.

i saw footage today of the Sth Korean patrol boat and i saw two crew members manning (one spotter + one firer)what seemed to the a Stinger or equivalent aft.. a simple way for some AA capability it seems.

Yep, a pretty common addition, and particularly valuable in keeping helicopters at bay; the Gulf in '90-'91 showed just how vulnerable FACs are to helicopters. Not worth toffee against missile attack, though.

I heard on the news tonight that over 200 rounds were fired, and the North Korean boat was on fire.

Sounds like a mix of auto-cannon, and machinegun fire to me, or possibly just the latter, depending upon the type of boats in use.

Looks like cannons were involved, since the quoted range is listed as a couple of miles apart:

link

Apparently, an officer on the NK boat was killed, and several others injured.

SK forces suffered no casualties.

From the TV footage here in Hong Kong at least one of the South Korean boats was a PKM 301 class with the enclosed 40mm forward and two turretted 20mm gatlings on the bridge and fantail, (not Phalanx.) See "Combat Fleets of the World" page 432.
No idea what the North Korean boat was.
Cheers,
Bertie

Most of the South Korean boats have Otomat 76mm guns, which have some anti-missile capability, but I don't think anyone's ever really had to find out how much….

An O.H. Perry class FFG carries the same gun and I wouldn't give a warm bucket of spit for its chances of knocking down an incoming missile. On a NATO exercise our ship was buzzed by a pair of Tornado's mimicking the flight profile of an SS-N-2-C. Our fire control guys didn't get a track on target until they were on top us, never mind time to get off the 10-15 rounds it would take to knock down one missile. If you don't pick it up at long range and pop it with missiles, you better hope Phalanx gets it.