South Korean Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

interesting assortment
Inside South Korea’s military wish list, as it seeks greater control over its forces
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When South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited the White House this month, U.S. President Donald Trump used the meeting to tout that the Asian nation plans to buy of a large amount of American weapons systems
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.

“President Moon [Jae-in] and South Korea have agreed to purchase a tremendous amount of our military equipment, from jet fighters to missiles, to
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,” Trump said at the April 11 meeting, where North Korea’s stalled denuclearization topped the agenda. “And we make the finest equipment in the world by far, and we appreciate the purchase. It’s a very large purchase.”

South Korea’s presidential office and military procurement authorities have since been tight-lipped about what might be in that “very large purchase.” But local defense experts and industry sources tell Defense News that acquisition decisions will focus on airborne systems with a price tag reaching 10 trillion won (U.S. $8.8 billion) over the next five to six years.

“A key motive for U.S. weapons purchase is the planned transfer of wartime operational control from the U.S. military to the South Korean armed forces,” said Shin Jong-woo, a senior analyst at the Seoul-based Korea Defense and Security Forum think tank. “What we need now to lead wartime operations in the years ahead is to get more and better airborne weapons systems, which would be preferential purchasing items.”

The South Korean government is accelerating efforts to take back authority to control its armed forces during wartime by 2022. An American four-star general currently is responsible for the maneuvers of both U.S. and South Korean troops on the Korean Peninsula in the event of war, and South Korean forces are heavily dependent on American airborne equipment for wartime deterrence.

Priority planes

Of the items considered for purchase, stealth fighter jets are at the top of the list, according to procurement and industry sources.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration, or DAPA, has completed preliminary research on the purchase of 20 more F-35As from the U.S. government, according to South Korean Air Force and industry sources. In 2014, Seoul ordered 40 F-35As, built by Lockheed Martin, through the Pentagon’s Foreign Military Sales program.

“The procurement agency has launched a feasibility study on the additional purchase of F-35As, and the request for proposal, or RFI, is to be issued early next year,” a military source involved in the preliminary research told Defense News on condition of anonymity. “
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wants the first delivery of the second batch to start in 2021, but the schedule could be slipped a little bit.”

Funding for this effort will be about $3 billion, according to the source.

Airborne systems for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance are also on the purchase list as part of midterm force improvement plans from 2019 to 2023, according to South Korean procurement sources.

The Defense Agency for Technology and Quality, an affiliate of DAPA, launched studies last year for a
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, or JSTARS. The 2019-2023 budget for midterm force improvement, which was released in January, detailed plans to acquire at least
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.

The budget for that acquisition is estimated at $1.7 billion, a DAPA source told Defense News. “The agency issued a request for information, and a couple of foreign potential bidders responded to the request,” the source said.

Among the bidders are Boeing, Raytheon and Israel Aerospace Industries’ Elta Systems. Boeing offered a P-8 Poseidon-based aircraft fitted with Raytheon’s Advanced Airborne Sensor radar capable of wide-range ground surveillance operations.

Raytheon proposed its
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, based on the Bombardier Global Express business jet. The aircraft is equipped with a dual-mode, synthetic aperture radar and moving target indication radar, and is currently flown by the British Royal Air Force.

Elta is known to be marketing its multimission airborne reconnaissance and surveillance system, dubbed “Mars2,” based on the Gulfstream G550 business jet.

“JSTARS is a key asset required for the transfer of wartime operational control, as the South Korean military for itself seeks to expand it operational capabilities,” said Kim Dae-young, an analyst at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. “A key criterion is expected to be how much the system has been proven in the battlefield, and export control issues could be an agenda item.”

Along with the JSTARS, the South Korean Air Force plans to buy two more
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. The service now operates four Boeing-built 737 AEW&C aircraft equipped with Northrop Grumman’s multirole electronically scanned array radar.

Sweden’s Saab has thrown its hat into the ring to challenge Boeing by proposing its GlobalEye AEW&C based on a modified Bombardier Global 6000 aircraft. Elta is also known to be a competitor.

In addition, the Air Force is considering buying six to eight electronic warfare aircraft similar to the Boeing-built EA-18G Growler.

...
... goes on below due to size limit:
 
Helicopter requirements

As for naval materiel, the forthcoming competition over 12 anti-submarine warfare helicopters is beginning — again.

Initially, it seemed Italy’s Leonardo was going to score an easy win for South Korea’s second batch of anti-submarine helicopters. The procurement program would seek 12 more AW159 Wildcat helicopters, with no other competitors for the $840 million program.

But DAPA decided to accept a U.S. proposal for an alternate option and
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from scratch.

The original plan was for a direct commercial deal with a foreign helicopter maker, with three bidders — Leonardo, Lockheed Martin and NH Industries — showing interest. The two latter contenders failed to submit their proposals by the Nov. 14 deadline, leaving Leonardo seemingly as the only remaining bidder.

According to sources from DAPA, however, soon after the deadline the U.S. government sent a letter of price and availability of Lockheed Martin’s MH-60R Seahawk, causing South Korean procurement officials to rethink the acquisition approach. As dictated by acquisition regulations, two successive failed bids mean the agency can make a private contract with a sole bidder; however, such a move is not mandatory.

Lockheed officials are tying their hopes to a potential MH-60R contract with India, which they believe would mean savings for South Korea should it order the aircraft. The U.S. State Department this month approved the sale of 24 Seahawks to India for an estimated $2.6 billion; however, the deal has a way to go before anything is official.

“With India’s order of 24 aircraft, the MH-60R FMS orders are expected to go up to 44, including the potential order of 12 units from South Korea,” said a source at Lockheed Martin. “Then South Korea would certainly get MH-60Rs cheaper, benefiting from the economies of scale.”

For its part, Leonardo thinks its price is competitive enough to secure a contract. “Leonardo will do its part to ensure that it meets the budget requirement,” a Leonardo spokesman said. “We welcome and assure a fair and transparent competition to take place under any circumstances.”

Meanwhile, the South Korean Army plans to
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Boeing-built AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters. Under a 2013 FMS deal valued $1.6 billion, 36 AH-64E helos were delivered to the service.

The
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SM-3 ballistic missile interceptor is near the top of the South Korean Navy’s wish list; already the Joint Chiefs of Staff set a requirement for the interceptor to augment the country’s plan for its low-tier, terminal-phase missile defense, which involves the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 and the U.S. Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems, as well as locally developed surface-to-air missiles.

The Ministry of National Defense said earlier this year that it would increase defense spending by an average of 7.5 percent each year over the next five years. The ministry said it would spend some $240 billion during that period, with about $82.7 billion of that set aside for improving weapons systems.

Overall, there are concerns in South Korea that the country’s ability to buy military equipment is at the mercy of U.S. political pressure, said Shin, the analyst with Korea Defense and Security Forum.

“It could happen, but I believe the defense acquisition program has a fair and transparent process not to be influenced by politics, and instead this is a very good opportunity to get advanced weapons systems in time,” he added.
it's
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Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
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Navy Recognition said:
The South Korean MoD on Tuesday, April 30, approved plans to build three Aegis-equipped destroyers worth 3.9 trillion won ($US 3.3 billion). The plan also includes upgrading submarines to enhance the military's operational capabilities, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said to local media.

The Defense Project Promotion Committee passed the plans to construct the second batch of three destroyers, called Gwanggaeto the Great Ⅲ, by 2028with a budget of around 3.9 trillion won (US$3.3 billion), Yohhap news said quoting DAPA.

The new destroyers are to be equipped with an upgraded US Aegis defence system which will allow them to intercept ballistic missiles. The Block 10 version of the Lockheed Martin’s Aegis system heralds a new era in detection and tracking as it can simultaneously track and defend against missiles, aircraft and enemy ships.

The Defence Projects Promotions Committee also approved a plan to build the next-generation indigenous submarine, the Jangbogo Ⅲ. The Jangbogo Ⅲ project refers to building three 3,450-ton submarines by 2028 that will be equipped with ballistic missile launchers, under a budget of 3.4 billion won, according to the DAPA.

Three more Se Jong the Great AEGIS destroyers which are really cruisers, with 144 VLS cells. And new subs with ballistic missile launch capability...not to mention adding another Dokdo Carrier and having them both loaded up with F-35Bs!

Now South Korea and Japan will both have two carrier, each with 20-24 F-35Bs and plenty of excellent escorts to defend them.

Not to mention the US LHA/:HDs able to operate in an escort carrier role with up to 20 or 24 F-35Bs, which the US used last week when the USS Wasp. LHD-1 cruised, with its AEGIS Burke escorts through the south china Sea with 12 F-35Bs on its decks.

Wasp-F-35-02.jpg

...and the Japanese Izumo class with F-35Bs. They are going to add a ski-jump to each as shown in the second picture.

Izumosx2.jpg

DDH-183-00.JPG
and then the Korean Dokdo doing the same:

Dokdo-01.jpg
Dokdo-04.jpg

See the following two Videos:


Japanese two carrier group Carrier Strike Group:


US LHD-7, USS Iwo Jima outfitted as a carrier.


The US has already deployed three of its LHD/LHA on missions with larger numbers of F-35Bs than what they used to deploy with Harrier IIs.

1. The USS Wasp is forward deployed in Japan with up to 24 F-35Bs. It recently sailed through the South China Sea with 12 of them aboard as shown above.

2. The USS Essex, LHD-2 was sent on its latest Mission to the Persion Gulf with 12 F-35Bs.

3. The USS America ahs been deployed recently for several months training F-35Bs in opwerations off of her decks with up to 20 F-35Bs.

That's, in essence, three more carriers the US is deploying by simply doing what it started practicing during Desert Storm whe it outfitted three Wasp class LPDs with 22 Harriers each.

The US is seriously working up and training operationally to operate seveal LHD/LHAs as escort carriers with 20-24 F-35Bs...even while they continue to build the new Ford class nuclear carriers. And, Trump recently decided not to decommission the USS Truman nuclear carrier as it approaches its mid-life maintenance as numbers of Democratic congressmen desired to save money for socakl programs.
 
Last edited:

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
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Navy Recognition said:
The South Korean MoD on Tuesday, April 30, approved plans to build three Aegis-equipped destroyers worth 3.9 trillion won ($US 3.3 billion). The plan also includes upgrading submarines to enhance the military's operational capabilities, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said to local media.

The Defense Project Promotion Committee passed the plans to construct the second batch of three destroyers, called Gwanggaeto the Great Ⅲ, by 2028with a budget of around 3.9 trillion won (US$3.3 billion), Yohhap news said quoting DAPA.

The new destroyers are to be equipped with an upgraded US Aegis defence system which will allow them to intercept ballistic missiles. The Block 10 version of the Lockheed Martin’s Aegis system heralds a new era in detection and tracking as it can simultaneously track and defend against missiles, aircraft and enemy ships.

The Defence Projects Promotions Committee also approved a plan to build the next-generation indigenous submarine, the Jangbogo Ⅲ. The Jangbogo Ⅲ project refers to building three 3,450-ton submarines by 2028 that will be equipped with ballistic missile launchers, under a budget of 3.4 billion won, according to the DAPA.

Three more Se Jong the Great AEGIS destroyers which are really cruisers, with 144 VLS cells. And new subs with ballistic missile launch capability...not to mention adding another Dokdo Carrier and having them both loaded up with F-35Bs!

Now South Korea and Japan will both have two carrier, each with 20-24 F-35Bs and plenty of excellent escorts to defend them.

Not to mention the US LHA/:HDs able to operate in an escort carrier role with up to 20 or 24 F-35Bs, which the US used last week when the USS Wasp. LHD-1 cruised, with its AEGIS Burke escorts through the south china Sea with 12 F-35Bs on its decks.

Wasp-F-35-02.jpg

...and the Japanese Izumo class with F-35Bs. They are going to add a ski-jump to each as shown in the second picture.

Izumosx2.jpg

DDH-183-00.JPG
and then the Korean Dokdo doing the same:

Dokdo-01.jpg
Dokdo-04.jpg

See the following two Videos:


Japanese two carrier group Carrier Strike Group:


US LHD-7, USS Iwo Jima outfitted as a carrier.


The US has already deployed three of its LHD/LHA on missions with larger numbers of F-35Bs than what they used to deploy with Harrier IIs.

1. The USS Wasp is forward deployed in Japan with up to 24 F-35Bs. It recently sailed through the South China Sea with 12 of them aboard as shown above.

2. The USS Essex, LHD-2 was sent on its latest Mission to the Persion Gulf with 12 F-35Bs.

3. The USS America ahs been deployed recently for several months training F-35Bs in opwerations off of her decks with up to 20 F-35Bs.

That's, in essence, three more carriers the US is deploying by simply doing what it started practicing during Desert Storm whe it outfitted three Wasp class LPDs with 22 Harriers each.

The US is seriously working up and training operationally to operate seveal LHD/LHAs as escort carriers with 20-24 F-35Bs...even while they continue to build the new Ford class nuclear carriers. And, Trump recently decided not to decommission the USS Truman nuclear carrier as it approaches its mid-life maintenance as numbers of Democratic congressmen desired to save money for socakl programs.
 
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...
it's been some time though LOL these are from December of 2013
:
And the race continues.....

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The article doesn't give any specifics of these destroyers except of the price tag (US$3.8 billion), higher than for the first three of the KDX-III (about US$2.8 billion), however
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says "A proposed $2.8 billion buy of 3 more KDX-III destroyers ..." Does that mean just a typo, or what?
 
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Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
it's been some time though LOL these are from December of 2013
:
From two days ago:

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These three are be targeted for commissioning by 2028.

TWo days agao Lockheed was awarded the contract to develop and install the AEGIS Syste on all three vessels, with that work to be completed for ll thrrr by 2026,

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f0245050_50bde8760dbce.jpg

46413977_2137793613217226_324413705489935828_n.jpg

Also...from 2 days ago:

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So the funding is now approved.

As to te KSS-III Submarines, the first of nine was launched in September 2018.

KSS-III.jpg

"The first-of-class KSS-III, christened Dosan Ahn Chang-ho,
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in September 2018. Overall, South Korea intents to build a fleet of nine KSS-III SSKs. As I
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last year:

The entire KSS-III class of subs will be produced in three batches. The first batch will include three boats, each fitted with six vertical missile tubes with the first two submarines to be assembled by DSME and the third to be built by South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI). The first three boats are expected to be operational by the early 2020s.

The next batch of three submarines, also fitted with a six-tube vertical launch system, is slated to be deployed by 2025, while the last three boats, reportedly boasting a displacement of over 3,500 tons and equipped with 10 vertical launch tubes each, will all be delivered to the ROKN by 2029. Each batch will reportedly see a gradual increase in the number of indigenous components used for the various sub-systems of the boats.

The KSS-III class will be the first ROKN SSKs capable of vertically launching ballistic or cruise missiles. DAPA has been partnering with South Korean defense firm LIG Nex1 to design and produce a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) for the subs.

The first KSS-III SSK is slated to be handed over to the ROKN by the end of 2020 or early 2021."

As o the 2nd Dokdo, Well, it was launched in May of last year, 2018.

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korean-navys-second-amphibious-assault-ship-roks-marado-hits-the-water.jpg

And w know from the lat two months that S. Korea plans to equip both Dokdos with Ski-jums and F-35B aircraft.
 
From two days ago:

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...
yeah but already Dec 11, 2013 a member posted the article saying "South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) will approve a plan on Tuesday to build three more Aegis destroyers to complement the three it already has to bolster defense against North Korea and its Asian neighbors, military officials said." etc.:
And the race continues.....

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so it's taking time, isn't it?
 

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
yeah but already Dec 11, 2013 a member posted the article saying "South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) will approve a plan on Tuesday to build three more Aegis destroyers to complement the three it already has to bolster defense against North Korea and its Asian neighbors, military officials said." etc.:
so it's taking time, isn't it?
All nations have a funding process they go through.

Even in the US, it takes time for the Congress and the military to 1st agree on something, then create the legislation and work your way through the legislative "riders" congressmen and women, or senators then try to attach to those bills. It can take years.

But right now, the latest news is that the 2nd Dokdo got approved funded and built. The 1st of nine of the new subs got approved, funded and built,,,and all of the first three and now the second three of those subs are approved and funded.

Also the revision of the Dokdos, adding the ski-jump and other provisions for the F-35Bs is also approved and funded. I am not sure how long along the path to funding the F-35Bs are, but they are approved and pretty far along in the funding process. In this case, the initial group of them will definitely be built in the US and the turned over to the South Koreans.

The same is largely true for the Japanese. Their first new improved Atago, the Maya class, was approved, funded and built and the first in class, the Maya, has now been launched. Like the Koreans, the 2nd ship has already started building, They already have both Izuno carriers and the improvements to both ships are approved and funded.

The next three Korean KDX-!!! move along. The US confirmed in September 2016 that the next three Sejong the Great vessels will be capable of performing "integrated air and missile defense" (IAMD) to supplement
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ground-based missile interceptors on the peninsula, likely being outfitted with the SM-3. While the first three destroyers are fitted with Aegis Baseline 7 based on older proprietary computers that can't carry out IAMD operations, the following three will be fitted with the Baseline 9 version of the Aegis Combat System that combines modern computing architecture to allow the AN/SPY-1D(v) radar to perform air warfare and BMD missions at the same time. Now that has moved to reality as I posted yesterday that as two days ago, here in May 2019, Lockheed was awarded the contract from Korea to build the AEGIS components for all three ships, and to complete that work for all three by 2026....probably the 1st in 2022, then the 2nd in 2024, and the thrid in 2026. This fits in well with the Korean plan to have all three commissioned by 2028. Probably wow4 commissioning for the 1st, 2026 for the 2nd, and 2028 for the 3rd. This means that the first should be lauched around 2022 and should start building early next year. We shall see, but such an award could not bbe dubded unless the three ships were already approved and funded.

The fact is, this is all happening and South Korea and Jpana are going to have fixed wing carrier Stikr groups cetered aroind the Izumo carriers for the JMSDF, and the Dokdos for the South Korean Navy. As I say, any of those four , carrying 20-24 F-35Bs will be a great threat to the current Chinese carriers. China is going to have to get to their CATOBAR carrier with a 5th gen fighter and a deent AEW aircraft to face the new reality developing in the western Pacific. PArticularly if JApan and S. Korea, and perhaps Australia, place the EV-22 Osprey AEW on their carriers.Time will tell...but I would not be surprised to see Australia use the Canberras similar to the Izumos and the Dokdos, or to see India try and arrange something similar for their Vikramaditya and Virkat.

We kow this with Korea, as a part of the announcement fomr three days agos I poste

Sputh Korean Defense Agebcy said:
Presided over by Defense Minister Jeong Kyung-doo, a top executive committee of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) endorsed April 30, 2019, the $3.3 billion effort to acquire the additional destroyers by 2028.
The batch 2 ships of the KDX-III Sejong the Great-class are expected to be fitted with the Raytheon-built RIM-161 Standard Missile 3, or SM-3, according to DAPA officials.

“The construction [of more Aegis destroyers] will help the South Korean Navy respond to potential maritime disputes more effectively as well as carry out peacekeeping mission more successfully, as the ships are supposed to have upgraded ship-to-air and underwater operational capability,” DAPA spokesman Park Jung-eun told reporters.

The new batch of Aegis destroyers, in particular, would have an up-to-date software suite for destroying incoming ballistic missiles, the spokesman added. The three batch 1 ships are equipped with the SM-2 interceptor designed to engage anti-ship cruise missiles during the terminal intercept phase.

The purchase of ballistic missile interceptors was included in South Korea’s five-year midterm force improvement plan, according to DAPA and Navy sources.
The ship-based interceptor is a key part of the country’s own missile shield, dubbed the Korea Air and Missile Defense, or KAMD — a network that includes Patriot Advanced Capability-2 and -3 interceptors, ship-based SM-2 missiles, and locally developed medium-range surface-to-air missiles.

Hyundai Heavy Industries is scheduled to sign a contract with DAPA on the construction and integration of batch 2 Aegis destroyer systems in June 2019, according to DAPA officials, while they signed a contract with Lockheed Martin earlier this year to buy an upgraded Aegis ballistic missile defense system, the Baseline 9.C2, for the new Sejong the Great-class Aegis destroyers.

All of this goes to show definitively that now, those 3 DDGs are approved and funded and we are now wating for them to lay the keel sometime after June of this year, eith this fall, or early in 2020.

As a result of all of thos, we know this, the US will be able to surge up to four CVNs into th Western Pacific, surge up o 4 LHD/LHAs with a carrier airwig of F-35Bs, and Japan and South carrier will be able to surge two each. Tis makes for 12 carriers that can be surged by those countries with 5th generation stealth strik fighters...and up to four more if India and Australia got into the act.

The developing scenario is going to be difficult for the PLAN to counter.
 
Jeff somehow can't find a statement confirming your sentence:
Also the revision of the Dokdos, adding the ski-jump and other provisions for the F-35Bs is also approved and funded.

after my google search all I can see is like South Korea "seeks", "may", "wants", or for example
"The Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN) has issued a tender for a research project to explore the possibility of operating the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) from its recently launched Dokdo-class landing platform helicopter (LPH) vessel ..."
RoKN considering F-35Bs for carrier operations
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see? just talking, so what did I miss?
 

gelgoog

Brigadier
Registered Member
Well, it is one thing to build systems in South Korea, it is another to buy them wholesale from some other country without tech transfer.
That costs a lot of foreign exchange reserves. Still, I expect an F-35B purchase will happen.
 
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