South Korean Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

timepass

Brigadier
South Korea’s second Dokdo-class helicopter carrier begins sea trials

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asif iqbal

Lieutenant General
A very good warship

South Korea should have had 4 by now

They are very slow at deciding what they want

Having said that a very good ship
 
noted
The joint command for US, South Korean forces is moving. Will this jeopardize defense?
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South Korea and the United States agreed June 3 to move the headquarters of Combined Forces Command out of the greater Seoul metropolitan area as part of efforts to set up a new joint command structure led by a South Korean four-star general.

The relocation plan, agreed to by South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, has sparked debate over operational efficiency of the future joint command and defense readiness against North Korea. The northern neighbor has deployed much of its artillery in range of Seoul.

“The two sides have shared the understanding that this (relocation) measure will enhance the operational efficiency of the CFC and a combined readiness posture,” the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement, using an acronym for Combined Forces Command.

Under the agreement, the CFC that is currently located in Yongsan, central Seoul, will be relocated to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul. The sprawling Army garrison, spread over 3,500 acres, is a consolidated base for U.S. troops in South Korea and houses major command posts and combat units stationed in the country.

U.S. Forces Korea, United Nations Command and the Eighth U.S. Army moved to Camp Humphreys under a base relocation pact signed in 2004. Most of the units belonging to the U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division deployed near the Demilitarized Zone were relocated to the rural area under a separate pact signed in 2002.

Originally, the CFC headquarters were to remain in Seoul and move into the local Defense Ministry complex in tandem with the transition of operational control of American and South Korean troops during wartime from a U.S. Army general to a South Korean commander by 2022.

Wartime command authority is currently in the hands of the CFC commander, who serves as chief of U.S. Forces Korea and United Nations Command.

But the plan was overturned by U.S. Gen. Robert Abrams, who was sworn in as CFC commander in November 2018. The general reportedly called for a reconsideration of the CFC’s move to the ministry complex, citing operational efficiency concerns and the cost of establishing accommodations for CFC staffers and their family members.

“At the appropriate future time, ROK and U.S. government leadership will announce an alliance decision on the future CFC headquarters location, which will be in the best interests of the ROK-U.S. Alliance and strengthen CFC’s ability to perform its missions,” Abrams said in a statement May 16, using the acronym for South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea.

Some security experts in South Korea say the CFC’s relocation to Camp Humphreys will benefit efficiency among U.S. commanders, but they raise concern over the physical separation of South Korean and U.S. commands and how that could impact communication and relationships between the allied forces.

“Simply put, two separate commands far away from each other would be less efficient in terms of joint or combined operational command than a unified command in the same space,” Kim Ki-ho, a former South Korean Army colonel who oversaw military operation planning at the CFC, told Defense News.

“At the CFC headquarters, South Korean commanders can obtain classified information and intelligence from U.S. intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets almost in real time, especially in time of North Korea’s military provocations, such as missile test firings,” said Kim, who is now a professor of international politics at Kyonggi University in Seoul. “I’m worried [whether] the commanders of the two militaries could share intelligence more and better than now.”

Defense Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo brushed off those concerns.

“In future warfare, geographical distance doesn’t carry significance, and the combined defense posture has been well confirmed through the C4I systems,” she said. “The U.S. has reaffirmed its ironclad security commitment to South Korea, and the allied forces have done their best to achieve the safety and security of the people.”

However, a key adviser to South Korea’s defense minister said the U.S. military doesn’t want to be controlled by a South Korean commander, "whether it’s a [Joint Chiefs of Staff] chairman or a separate four-star general.”

“It seems the U.S. military doesn’t trust the South Korean wartime commanding capability — at least now — and that’s why they want to keep its command-and-control facility at the consolidated base in Pyeongtaek,” said the adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Practically speaking, the adviser added, “even though a South Korean general is selected as CFC commander, he would likely be dependent on the deputy commander from the U.S. military.”

Kim, the former Army colonel, offered a more frank analogy of the envisaged chain of command.

“It’s like a vice chairman, who has 95 percent of shares in his company, is controlled by a chairman with only 5 percent. It’s a really tough mission for the chairman to lead the company independently as planned,” he said.

Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong Global University in Pohang, believes the decision for the U.S. to move a key command away from the capital implies the country doesn't want to play the role of "tripwire" in possible North Korean aggression.

“Instead, the U.S. military would provide air and naval support at a certain level in the case of an emergency,” Park said.

The two allies are scheduled to stage the first-ever South Korea-led
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in August as part of efforts to verify whether South Korean commanders are on course to meet the conditions required for the transition of wartime operational control.

“When I think of an alliance, the word that comes to mind is ‘trust’ — incredible trust between our countries forged in combat nearly 70 years ago,” Shanahan said this month during talks with South Korean officials. “This is also apparent, tremendous strides that the CFC is taking to more rapidly fulfill conditions for the transition of wartime operational control from the U.S. commander to a South Korean commander.”
 
noted
South Korea to build ship for short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing aircraft
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South Korea is to launch a new version of a large-deck landing ship from which short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing aircraft can operate by the late 2020s, amid naval buildups in China and
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.

The decision was made during a July 12 meeting of top brass presided over by Gen. Park Han-ki, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea is gaining traction over Tokyo’s export restrictions on high-tech materials to South Korea.

“The plan of building the LPH-II ship has been included in a long-term force buildup plan,” said a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs, speaking on condition of anonymity and using an acronym for “landing platform helicopter.”

“Once a preliminary research is completed within a couple of years, the shipbuilding plan is expected to be included in the midterm acquisition list,” the spokesman added.

The new LPH is to be refit to displace 30,000 tons, double the capacity of the previous two LPHs — Dokdo and Marado — with 14,500 tons of displacement. The carrier-type vessel is also bigger than the 27,000 tons associated with Japan’s Izumo-class helicopter destroyers.

“It’s the first time that a light aircraft carrier-class ship is pursued under South Korea’s force improvement plans,” Kim Dae-young, an analyst at the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, told Defense News. “It’s also a symbolic and meaningful step to upgrade the country’s naval capability against potential threats posed by Japan and China.”

Japan has plans to convert its two Izumo-class helicopter destroyers by 2023 to light aircraft carriers from which the F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) jet can operate.

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is building two more aircraft carriers in addition to Liaoning, a refurbished ex-Soviet carrier. A modified version of the Liaoning is currently being fitted out in northern China, while another, larger carrier is having its modules
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in the city of Shanghai. China is also building a Type 075 helicopter assault ship at another shipyard in the same city, while continuing to crank out a variety of conventional and nuclear-powered submarines.

South Korea bought 40 F-35As for its Air Force in 2014 for $6.75 billion, and 20 more could be purchased as part of midterm arms-buildup plans. In tandem with the light aircraft carrier plan, the military is considering buying 20 more F-35Bs, a defense procurement source said.

“A pilot study on the purchase of F-35Bs is being conducted by a state-funded research institute. The study results are to be released as early as September,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The study weighs in on two options to replace the order of F-35As with F-35Bs, and buy 20 more F-35s additionally.”

The new carrier is expected to hold 16 STOVL aircraft, 3,000 marines and 20 armored vehicles, according to the source. The LPH-II is expected to have a ski jump-style launch ramp.

The South Korean Navy has already launched two Dokdo-class LPHs in an effort to develop its blue-water operational capability, as well as counter North Korean threats.

In May 2018, the second Dokdo-class LPH was launched with reconfigurations from the lead ship. The 199-meter-long, 31-meter-wide LPH is equipped with a fixed-panel 3D surveillance radar built by Elta Systems, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries, in place of the Thales SMART 3D radar aboard the Dokdo.

As for Marado, its flight deck was adapted to accommodate two V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, while the Dokdo could carry only one V-22. Marado is also fitted with two Phalanx close-in weapon systems, instead of the Goalkeeper CIWS installed on the Dokdo.

The Dokdo-class LPH can carry up to 720 fully equipped marines, 10 tanks, 10 trucks, seven amphibious assault vehicles and three artillery systems. It can sail at a maximum speed of 41 KPH with a crew of 300 on board.

The well deck has a capacity for two landing craft. Below the deck hanger, 15 helicopters, including two V-22s, can fit while the flight deck can simultaneously accommodate up to five helicopters of all types.
 

Brumby

Major
Warplanes from four countries face off in Asian confrontation

Seoul (CNN)Warplanes from four countries faced off Tuesday in a chaotic and unprecedented confrontation above a small, disputed island off the coast of South Korea and Japan.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a statement claiming they had fired more than 300 warning shots at a Russian A-50 command and control military aircraft early Tuesday morning after it had twice violated the country's airspace, the first such incident between the countries.
Moscow furiously denied Seoul's account of the encounter, claiming that South Korean military jets had dangerously intercepted two of its bombers during a planned flight over neutral waters.
But in a statement Tuesday afternoon, Japan's Ministry of Defense backed up South Korea's claims, saying the A-50 had flown over the islands and that Tokyo had scrambled fighters to intercept.
In a further complication, both South Korea and Japan said that two Chinese H-6 bombers had joined the Russian military aircraft on sorties through the region as well.
The confrontation took place over disputed islands in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The two, small islands, known to the Koreans as
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and to the Japanese as
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What triggered the confrontation or why the planes were in the region is unclear, but analysts said the mission may have been designed by Russia to draw out South Korean and Japanese aircraft for intelligence gathering purposes.
"This mission will have given them a comprehensive map of the (South Korean) national air defense system," said Peter Layton, a former Royal Australian Air Force pilot and analyst at the Griffith Asia Institute.
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Chaos in the skies
The incident came during what South Korean officials have claimed was a joint Russian-Chinese military exercise.
According to South Korea, two Chinese H-6 bombers passed into Seoul's Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) beginning from 6.44 a.m., joined by two Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers.
The four planes then entered the KADIZ together at about 8.40 a.m. and remained there for 24 minutes.
Airspace is defined as the area 12 nautical miles from a country's borders, which falls entirely under its control. An ADIZ is an area in which the controlling country demands identification, location and control of aircraft's direction, but doesn't necessarily have any rights of engagement under international law.
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South Korea's KADIZ was first established in 1950 and most recently adjusted by Seoul in 2013.
After the KADIZ flyover, Seoul said a Russian A-50 flew above the contested islands first at 9.09 a.m. local time and then again at 9.33 a.m., each time for just a matter of minutes.
In response, South Korea deployed F-15F and KF-16 fighter jets, the statement said, and fired 360 warning shots ahead of the Russian aircraft, 80 during the first violation and 280 during the second. The shots were fired using 20mm weapons, according to the country's Ministry of Defense.
The South Korean military said they also sent out 30 warnings to the Russian plane but received no response. The A-50 is an unarmed AWACS plane, standing for Airborne Warning and Control System, designed for tracking and observation.
In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, the Russian Defense Ministry said that they were conduction the "first joint air patrol using long range aircraft in the Asian-Pacific region." It added that the joint air patrol was "carried out in order to deepen and develop Russian-Chinese relations" and was "not aimed against third countries."
Earlier in the day, the
Defense Ministry furiously denied the South Korean reports and accused South Korean fighter pilots of acting inappropriately.
"(They) conduced unprofessional maneuvers by crossing the course of Russian strategic missile carriers, threatening their security," the ministry said in a statement Tuesday. The statement made no mention of the A-50.
"This is not the first time the South Korean pilots have unsuccessfully tried to prevent Russian aircraft from flying over the neutral waters," the Russian statement said, adding it didn't recognize South Korea's KADIZ.
It also denied that there was any "warning fire," adding if the Russian pilots had felt "any threat to their security, the response would not be long in coming."
But after Moscow released its statement, Japan confirmed it had also scrambled fighter jets in response to the Russian incursion Tuesday.
"We confirmed Russia's A50 has invaded Japan's airspace while two of Russian TU-95 bombers and two Chinese H-6 bombers flew around Japan. We took measures against the invasion," said a spokesman for the country's Ministry of Defense.
When asked about the incident, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they weren't aware of the details and referred the question to the Defense Department.
"You used the word 'intrusion' and I'd caution against using such terms, considering China and South Korea are friendly neighbors and the situation is not clear yet," spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.
War of words
Chung Eui-yong, director of South Korea's National Security Office, said that he had sent a "strong" message of complaint to the Russian authorities over the incident.
"We are taking this situation very seriously, and if this kind of action is repeated, we will take even stronger measures," Chung said, without detailing what those measures could be.
The Japanese government said that it had issued a strong protest against both the Russian and the South Korean governments for intruding on what they regard as their airspace.
The South Koreans said they had dismissed Japan's protests. Moscow has not responded to either country's concerns.
Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the United States' Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center, said that shooting a warning shot in the air was "very very serious" and "very, very rare."
Schuster said that the fact shots were fired meant Seoul had viewed the violation as a serious and deliberate act, adding he couldn't explain why the Russian plane would come back again after the first warning.
"Penetrating to a point of requiring warning shots to turn away is normally the result of a deliberate decision to penetrate that airspace," he said.
Though East Asia is riven by numerous, long-standing territorial disputes, Russia and South Korea rarely come into conflict.
Top Russian and South Korean leaders at the G20 in Osaka, Japan, in June, where they praised their warming bilateral relations. Russian President Vladimir Putin said South Korea was
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in Asia.
It is the second tense incident involving the Russian military in East Asia in less than two months. On June 8 two vessels from the United States and Russia almost collided in the Pacific, coming within 50 feet of each other.
The exact location of the standoff wasn't clear but it was believed to take place in the waters off the coast of China.
Relations between Beijing and Moscow have reached an
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in the past year, according to Russia's Putin, including growing cooperation between their two militaries .
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H2O

Junior Member
Registered Member
Russian MoD just released a video on that joint Chinese-Russian air patrol that Brumby posted.

 

Brumby

Major
It is inevitable that South Korea will proceed with the purchase of F-35Bs sometime in the future since it is planning to build a bigger LHD with carrier aviation capabilities

South Korea Moving Toward F-35B Acquisition
South Korea’s most recent fighter acquisition program gave the air force the type that it wanted, the
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Lightning, but not in the numbers it wanted. The budget stretched only to 40 fighters, not 60, and ever since the air force has hankered for the other 20.
But those 20 additional aircraft may be F-35Bs instead, according to an industry source who says the air force is working toward the acquisition. Meanwhile, the defense ministry has confirmed plans for an assault ship that could operate such fighters, which are capable of short takeoff and vertical landing.
The air force is moving to initial operational capability with the first batch, which were ordered in 2014 following a 2013 selection. Missions for F-35 units will include strikes against strategic targets, such as mobile missile launchers, the government says.
When the F-35A selection was announced, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said that a later order for 20 more fighters could be subject to changed requirements. Still, the air force continued to lobby for another 20 F-35As, sources familiar with the matter have said. But its interest has lately switched to F-35Bs, the industry source tells Aviation Week. These fighters would be bought under a program called F-X Phase 4. No timing was disclosed. Separately, the Jongang Ilbo newspaper reports that an order for 20 F-35Bs is indeed planned. It adds that the assault ship will be able to accommodate 16 such fighters.
Source : AWST July 30, 2019
 
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