South Korea military seeks new firefinder radars and Spike NLOS missiles

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South Korea Steps Up Arms Plans

Attack Puts Missiles, Radars Atop Military's Shopping List
By JUNG SUNG-KI Published: 29 November 2010

SEOUL - In the wake of North Korea's deadly shelling of an island of the South on Nov. 23, the South Korean military quickly unveiled plans to acquire precision missiles and advanced mobile artillerylocating radars.

The military also vowed to boost defenses on the five islands near the tense western sea border with the North by adding troops and self-propelled howitzers to counter North Korean artillery hidden in mountain caves and tunnels along the western coast.

On Nov. 25, President Lee Myung-bak called for procuring "the world's most advanced" defense systems to thwart the North, which fired about 170 artillery shells toward residential areas and a South Korean marine base on Yeonpyeong Island, killing two marines and two civilians. The island is some 12 kilometers from the North Korean mainland.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) requested an additional 263.6 billion won ($229 million) from the National Assembly.

About 37.1 billion won would be spent to upgrade AN/TPQ-36/37 Firefinder radars introduced in the early 1990s, JCS officials said.

Currently, the South Korean Army and Marine Corps operate about 18 of the weapon-locating radars, which lack an analog target acquisition mechanism.

The AN/TPQ-37 operated by the marine unit on Yeonpyeong failed to operate properly during the Nov. 23 bombardment, JCS officials said.

The Army has been taking deliveries of a newer artillery-finding radar, the Saab-built ARTHUR; six have arrived in the past year.

But the service has yet to rate the system fully operational.

The Army plans to buy scores more ARTHURs in the next five years. These will be manufactured by LIG Nex1, South Korea's electronic weapons maker, with technical assistance from Swedish Saab.

ARTHUR allows commanders to quickly locate guns that are firing artillery shells, and transmits the data to command-and-control systems within seconds.

"With upgrades to existing AN/TPQ-36/37 radars and production of ARTHURs, we aim to deploy up to 50 mobile weapon-locating radars on the islands in the West Sea, as well as along the 155-mile demilitarized zone," a DAPA official said.

But both the AN/TPQ-36/37 and ARTHUR can miss fast, low-flying artillery, he said.

"To supplement that problem, we've also requested a budget for purchasing hostile artillery locating [HALO] systems that use multiple acoustic sensors," the official said.

HALO systems use passive acoustic locators, precise meteorological monitoring, and terrain data to fix and identify hostile artillery, mortars, and even improvised explosive devices.

The JCS plans to deploy HALOs on Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong islands by the end of 2011.

Anti-artillery Missiles

In a bid to destroy North Korean artillery hidden in caves and tunnels, the DAPA also asked the Assembly to allocate about 56 billion won to buy GPS-guided Spike missiles built by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

"There are limits to hitting the North's artillery and multiple rocket launcher strongholds precisely with the K9 self-propelled howitzer," said Rep. Song Young-sun of the Future Hope Alliance, a minor opposition political party. "So it's urgent to introduce GPS-guided precision missiles."

The South's K9 howitzers are said to have failed to hit the North's multiple rocket launchers Nov. 23.

Spike is a fourth-generation man-portable fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile with tandem-charge HEAT warhead. The DAPA is considering buying the Non Line of Sight variant, which is built to allow strikes on the tops of vehicles or other targets. The manufacturer says the missile can hit targets out to 25 kilometers.

The agency requested 82 billion won to add 20 K9s to the planned 2011 purchase of 80.

The numbers of K9s on Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong are to be tripled to 18 next year.

The military is also planning to upgrade its K55 155mm self-propelled howitzer, upgrade naval UAVs, and buy other gear.

New Coastal Command Plan

Government and military sources said the attack has spurred the military to plan a division level command to defend the islands near North Korean waters.

"In the aftermath of the Yeonpyeong Island attack, consensus has been built among government and military officials to augment troops and weapons on the West Sea islands," a military source said Nov. 26. "The creation of a West Sea Command is part of such efforts, but discussions are still underway over the idea."

South Korea Steps Up Arms Plans - Defense News

 

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SK is also acquiring Super-Greenpine radar ..They need it..

 

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SKorea buying Israeli rockets to deter NKorea
By AP | September 06, 2011

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has struck a $43 million deal with an Israeli company to buy advanced rockets to protect a front-line area attacked by North Korea last year, officials said Tuesday.

South Korea will deploy 67 Spike NLOS rockets on Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong islands in the Yellow Sea as early as late this year, a South Korean government arms procurement official said. Four South Koreans were killed on Yeonpyeong when the North shelled it last November.

The official, who declined to be identified, citing policy, said the deal was made in July after the Israeli weapon received the best performance review from South Korean military officials. Another South Korean arms procurement official confirmed the information.

Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems says the rockets can fly up to 15 miles (25 kilometers) and hit hidden targets. South Korea has been struggling to find ways to take out North Korea's hidden coastal artillery should it attack again.

South Korea's efforts to boost weapons systems on the front-line islands follow intense criticism that defense officials failed to respond strongly and quickly enough after the North's attack last year.

South Korea currently has self-propelled guns, vulcan cannons, multi-rocket launchers, radars and other advanced weapons deployed on the islands, as well as thousands of marines. In June, Seoul set up a separate defense command in charge of troops on the islands.

Violence often flares in the Yellow Sea, and three deadly naval clashes since 1999 have taken a few dozen lives. The maritime line separating North and South Korea was drawn by the U.S.-led U.N. Command without North Korea's consent at the close of the 1950-53 Korean War. That fighting ended with a truce, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula still technically in a state of war. North Korea routinely argues that the line should run farther south.

South Korea's moves to bolster its defenses come as it seeks to revive dialogue with North Korea. Since July, diplomats from the two Koreas and the United States have met to explore ways to restart long-stalled nuclear disarmament talks. Progress, however, has been elusive.

In another sign of easing tensions, a religious delegation from South Korea is in North Korea this week to attend a Buddhist service honoring a historic relic considered sacred by both countries.

On Saturday, a U.S. shipment of humanitarian aid arrived in North Korea to help the country recover from floods and heavy rain. The State Department has dismissed any link between the aid and diplomatic efforts to restart the six-nation nuclear talks.

The talks involve the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia. During his trip to Russia and China last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il reportedly suggested the North might consider a moratorium on nuclear testing and production if the talks resume.

North Korea is pushing for the negotiations to restart. The United States and South Korea have so far reacted coolly, saying the North must first show sincerity by abiding by past nuclear commitments before the aid-for-disarmament talks can resume.

Israel is one of the world's largest defense exporters, having sold arms to Turkey, Britain, the United States and other Western nations. But it is looking for new defense partners to replace the likely short-term loss of Turkey.

Tensions between Turkey and Israel grew as Turkey's Islamic-oriented government sought a rapprochement with Israel's traditional foes in the Middle East. Ties deteriorated sharply after Israel's three-week military offensive in Gaza in 2009. Last year's Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound protest flotilla that killed nine pro-Palestinian activists sent relations to a new low.

The Associated Press: SKorea buying Israeli rockets to deter NKorea