South Korean Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

South Korea’s new trio of guided-missile destroyers will be capable of providing South Korea ballistic missile defense capabilities,

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“The destroyers will be fitted with the U.S. Navy’s Baseline 9 version of the Aegis Combat System that combines modern computing architecture to allow the ship’s AN/SPY-1D(v) radar to detect and track aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles at the same time,” wrote USNI News.

The move comes as North Korea has steadily improved its ballistic missile capability and U.S. officials have expressed concern Pyongyang could already have a miniaturized nuclear warhead.

U.S. officials have called for closer military cooperation between Japan beyond a 2014 information sharing agreement.

“A recent trilateral BMD exercise and planned technical improvements to the Republic of Korea Navy and the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force point to the creation of a future linked BMD network between existing U.S. and Japanese Aegis BMD ships and Korean guided missile destroyers,”

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KAI secures deal for 30 amphibious Surions

Korea Aircraft Industries has secured a KRW630 billion ($523 million) contract with Seoul’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) to provide KUH-1 Surion transport helicopters to the country’s marines.

The package covers 30 helicopters to be delivered from 2017 to 2023, says a source familiar with the transaction.

Originally, KAI had anticipated the initial marine order to be for 36 examples.

In addition, all South Korean army Surions that required gearbox modifications have undergone modifications, and are deemed airworthy.
The marine variant’s rotor blades can be folded. In addition to a four man crew (two pilots and two gunners) it can carry nine fully-armed marines. The type has emergency floats that can deploy with the press of a button. If required by the mission, crews can quickly add special internal long-range fuel tanks.

Separately, KAI announced in a stock exchange statement that it had secured a third production contract with the South Korean army worth KRW1.6 trillion. The contract also includes a logistics support package.

Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that there are 69 in-service Surions. Of these, 62 are with the South Korean Army and three are with the Korea National Police Agency. KAI also operates four examples.

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Jeff Head said:

How many VLS in FFX-III Frigates?

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#395 FORBIN, Tuesday at 9:54 PM
- 4 batch II ordered do 122 m, 3600 t with in more a VLS for 16 x 4 new SAM MR
- and now 6 batch III 122 m , 3800 t as you can see a new VLS with 8 cell's !

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• 30 DECEMBER, 2016
  
• SOURCE: FLIGHTGLOBAL.COM
  
• BY: GREG WALDRON
  
• SINGAPORE

Jura said:

according to Military.com South Korea Picks New Site for US Missile Defense System

source:

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China has a range of economic, diplomatic and military options to retaliate if the U.S. and South Korea proceed with

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, experts said Friday, as Beijing remained vague in its threats against the plan.

Such steps could raise the stakes for Washington and Seoul in a controversial deployment that China regards as a major security threat, while complicating matters for South Korea as it faces domestic political divisions and significant public opposition.

China's official Xinhua News Agency said Beijing and Moscow agreed to take "further countermeasures" in response to the plan during security talks between the two countries in Moscow on Thursday.

"The countermeasures will be aimed at safeguarding interests of China and Russia and the strategic balance in the region," Xinhua quoted the agreement as saying.

The report gave no details and a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman on Friday said only that China has a legitimate right to defend its security interests.

"China believes it is a serious threat to China's security interests and for the region," Lu Kang said at a daily briefing. "I believe that as long as our country has legitimate security concerns, it is understandable that necessary measures be taken to safeguard such interests."

The proposed Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, radar system aims to guard against North Korean missiles, a threat that drew renewed attention after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced in his annual New Year's address that the country had reached the "final stages" of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile.

China has campaigned relentlessly against the deployment, warning of unspecified retaliation and leading to a sharp downturn in relations with Seoul. China says the system's powerful radar can peer deep into its territory, allowing the U.S. to monitor flights and missile launches and potentially making it capable of launching a pre-emptive strike.

China's efforts could now be bearing fruit, with a possible South Korean presidential contender saying last month that THAAD's security benefits would be outweighed by worsened relations with China and Russia. Liberal opposition politician Moon Jae-in downplayed concerns that backtracking by South Korea on the plans would cause tension with the United States, which he said was the "most important country" for South Korea in face of nuclear-armed rival North Korea.

So far, Beijing has only hinted at economic retaliation against South Korea, with scattered reports of canceled visits by South Korean film stars and singers and shipments of South Korean cosmetics being held up at customs. The state newspaper Global Times proposed last year that China blackball companies taking part in the THAAD deployment and ban politicians who support it from visiting.

China might also exert pressure by canceling planned or potential business deals and cultural or educational exchanges, said Denny Roy, a senior fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.

It could also send Chinese coast guard ships to escort fishing boats into waters claimed by South Korea, dispatch military aircraft and ships into South Korean air and sea space and suggest that it might do less to restrain North Korea from provocative behavior, Roy said.

"China still has a large number of strings it could pull to punish South Korea," he said.

Militarily, Russia and China could deploy more missiles, especially those with maneuverable warheads to overwhelm THAAD, along with the use of decoys and attempts to jam the system, analysts say. In addition to withholding help on North Korea, Russia could also harden its position in Syria, where it is allied with Bashar Assad's government against anti-regime forces friendly to the United States.

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Japan, US, South Korea Hold Missile Defense Drill
The naval exercise staged to counter North Korean missile threats concluded on Sunday.

By Franz-Stefan Gady
January 24, 2017

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN), and U.S. Navy (USN) concluded a three-day naval exercise off the Korean peninsula on January 22, Yonhap News Agency reports.

The three-day naval exercise was kicked off on Friday, January 20 and involved three Aegis system-equipped guided missile destroyers. The so-called Aegis combat system is an automated command-and-control (C2) and weapons control system offering integrated air and missile defense capabilities to surface warships.

The aim of the military drill was to boost JMSDF, ROKN, and USN capabilities to detect and trace incoming North Korean missiles. The exercise comes amid steady advances in North Korea’s ballistic missile programs and growing signs that Pyongyang is ready to test-fire its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

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The major emphasis of the missile defense drill was on the timely acquisition and sharing of data among the three navies. Similar to previous exercises a fighter jet stood in for the missile. According to a U.S. Naval Forces Korea spokesperson no missiles were fired from the Aegis-equipped ships.

“The U.S. Navy continually seeks every occasion to strengthen relationships and interoperability with participating allies and partners, while further developing maritime capabilities and capacity,” the spokesperson said in a statement quoted by Stars and Stripes on January 21.

According to Stars and Stripes, the JMSDF participated with the Kongo-class JS Kirishima guided missile destroyer, one of only six Aegis-equipped destroyers currently in service with the JMSDF. South Korea dispatched a Sejong the Great-class multi-purpose destroyer, and the United States sent the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Stethem.

As I reported in August (See: “US to Upgrade Japanese and South Korean Destroyers With Latest Combat System”), the United States will upgrade two JMSDF Atago-class destroyers–improved variants of the Kongo-class —and three ROKN KDX-III Sejong the Great-class guided-missile destroyers with the latest variant of the Aegis combat system, which allows an Aegis warship to receive targeting information from a third party.

I explained:

The heart of the Aegis Combat System is the AN/SPY-1—“the Navy’s most advanced multi-function radar system,” according to Lockheed Martin. It is an advanced, automatic detect and track, multi-function phased-array radar system.

“This high-powered radar is able to perform search, track, and missile guidance functions simultaneously, with a track capacity of more than 100 targets,” according to the U.S. Navy. “When paired with the MK 41 Vertical Launching System, it is capable of delivering missiles for every mission and threat environment in naval warfare,” Lockheed Martin claims. This includes anti-air, anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare.

Aegis Baseline 9 offers a number of improvements from previous versions of the combat system. “The Aegis Combat System Baseline 9.C1 offers unprecedented capabilities, including simultaneous air and ballistic missile defense,” Sheridan, the Lockheed Martin director of Aegis programs, said in January. “This Aegis baseline also improves Aegis networking capabilities, allowing Aegis vessels to automatically coordinate defense with input from satellite and ground-based radar assets—forming a true shield of defense over a wide area.”

The Aegis combat system is compatible with Raytheon’s Standard Missile (SM) series. As The Diplomat reported, South Korea has expressed interest in acquiring the Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) capable of destroying short- to intermediate-range ballistic missile threats. The SM-3 is already in service with the JMSDF and U.S. Navy. Japan and South Korea may also be interested in acquiring the recently cleared for export Standard Missile 6 (SM-6), capable of intercepting ballistic missiles in their terminal stage of flight over land or sea.

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