Armée Sud Coréene/Republic of Korea Armed Forces ( RoKAF )

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Citation :

DATE:25/03/09
SOURCE:Flight International
Elbit Systems lands helmet-mounted display deal with South Korea
By Arie Egozi

Elbit Systems has received a contract to supply advanced helmet-mounted display systems for the South Korean army's Korean Utility Helicopter (KUH) programme.

Under the deal, Elbit will supply prime contractor Korea Aerospace Industries with equipment for its ongoing development effort, which is expected to lead to the manufacture of up to 250 tactical transport helicopters. The Israeli company's initial contract covers those development aircraft due to be delivered in 2009-10, but it believes the agreement could lead to follow-on orders to equip the entire KUH fleet and additional military rotorcraft.

"We believe this selection will lead to further head-up display projects in South Korea and worldwide," says Yoram Shmuely, co-general manager of Elbit's Aerospace Division.

Elbit says its helmet-mounted display systems enable helicopter pilots to fly with their "head out of the cockpit", boosting situational awareness and safety by projecting essential flight data, plus navigation waypoints and threat data into their line of sight.

Citation :

The South Korean Army's UH-60 helicopters carrying Marines land on a coast during a joint military exercise for all three armed forces against possible attacks by North Korea, on Baengnyeong Island near the disputed sea border with the North October 28, 2011. The Northwest Islands Defense Command, established in June after North Korea's deadly shelling last November of Yeonpyeong Island, organized the drill, local media reported. The United States and South Korea are working on additional steps to deter future North Korean provocations, including advancing their "readiness capabilities" in disputed west-coast waters, the allies' defence chiefs said on Friday.






South Korean Marines march out from the army's UH-60 helicopters during a joint military exercise for all three armed forces against possible attacks by North Korea, on Baengnyeong Island near the disputed sea border with the North October 28, 2011.




South Korean Marines man K-9 self-propelled guns during a joint military exercise for all three armed forces against possible attacks by North Korea, on Baengnyeong Island near the disputed sea border with the North October 28, 2011.




South Korean Marines jump out of a military truck during a joint military exercise for all three armed forces against possible attacks by North Korea, on Baengnyeong Island, near the disputed sea border with the North, October 28, 2011. The Northwest Islands Defense Command, established in June after North Korea's deadly shelling last November of Yeonpyeong Island, organized the drill, local media reported. The United States and South Korea are working on additional steps to deter future North Korean provocations, including advancing their "readiness capabilities" in disputed west-coast waters, the allies' defence chiefs said on Friday

Citation :

One killed, one injured in Army helicopter emergency landing


SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Yonhap) -- An Army non-commissioned officer was killed and another officer injured when a light attack helicopter made an emergency landing southeast of Seoul during an exercise, the South Korean military said Wednesday.

An official said an MD 500 helicopter made the emergency landing around 2:30 p.m. during the annual Hoguk Exercise in Wonju, Gangwon Province, some 130 kilometers southeast of Seoul. A warrant officer named Hong died of unspecified injuries while being treated at a military hospital. The co-pilot, a major surnamed Cho, sustained a broken leg.

The official said the cause of the incident has not been determined and added that the tail section of the helicopter had been damaged.

"The chopper was hovering as part of an air strike drill during the exercise," the official said. "We have grounded all MD 500 helicopters as of 3:40 p.m. today."

The Hoguk Exercise got underway on Oct. 27 and is scheduled to end this Friday. It involves all branches of the service.

koreaherald

Le corps CG du ROKAF opére actuellement 2 CN235 MPA, et recevera 2 autres d'ici la fin de l'année, à coté d'un Challenger 701 pour la surveillance maritime avancée. Ce corps reçoit à lui seul, un budget d'1 MM$ ( le 1/7 du budget du ROKN ).

Citation :

S. Korea to mass-produce armed version of trainer jet starting in 2013
SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will begin mass production of an armed model of its supersonic trainer jet starting in 2013, the state procurement agency said Friday.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said it will finalize a deal within this year so that the first armed version of the T-50 trainer jet, dubbed the FA-50, will be delivered to the Air Force by August 2013. Sources said up to 60 FA-50 jets will be produced by 2016.

FA-50s are designed to fill the void left by outdated Air Force fighters, such as the A-37 and F-5. Officials say the multirole FA-50 is comparable to KF-16 aircraft.

Separately, the DAPA said it will select the winner of its project to acquire 60 fifth-generation fighter jets in October next year, after posting a public notice of the invitation to bid in January and reviewing proposals in June.

Candidates for the 8.29 trillion won (US$7.46 billion) project have been narrowed down to four models: the F-15SE Silent Eagle by Boeing, F-35 Lightning II by Lockheed Martin, Eurofighter Typhoon by the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) and the T-50 PAK-FA by Russian firm Sukhoi.

"We will weigh in all factors, such as performance, costs, suitability with our military deployment and technology transfer," a DAPA official said. "We will make a decision that is in the best interest of the country."

He said the Air Force will continue to review whether to make internal weapons carriage a requirement for the candidates. A fighter jet's ability to load weapons internally away from enemy eyes is considered an important part of its stealth capabilities.

Meanwhile, the DAPA said it will also select the winners of bids for AH-X attack helicopters and maritime helicopters in October next year.

yonhapnews

La Corée du Sud envisagerait d'acheter 30 hélicoptères d'attaque T-129 :

LaikTurkiye a écrit:

Turkey’s TAI and Italy’s AgustaWestland have a good chance of winning a bid to jointly produce 30 helicopters for South Korea, an official tells the Daily News

A team of Turkish and Italian companies is seeking to win a South Korean contract for 30 attack helicopters worth $1 billion with the group’s T-129 gunship, a senior Turkish procurement official said Nov. 2.

“South Korea’s competition is a major one for at least 30 gunships and the T-129 has been shortlisted among a very small number of candidates. It has very good chances to become the winner,” said an Ankara-based defense analyst.

The partnership is between Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and Italy’s AgustaWestland, which presently is co-producing 59 T-129s, a Turkish version of the Italian company’s A-129 Mangusta International, for the Turkish Army.

A senior TAI team went to Seoul last month to discuss a possible deal for the attack helicopters, the procurement official said.

AgustaWestland won a Turkish contract in 2008 worth billions of dollars to jointly build with TAI 50 T-129s for the Turkish Army.

source : http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=chopper-offer-hard-to-refuse-for-seoul-2011-11-04

J'aimerais bien que la TAI fasse un peu de marketing pour cet hélico du côté occidentale de la méditerrannée ...

Citation :

Korea to independently upgrade Patriot software

The Air Force plans to improve key software for its Patriot missile system, a ground-based missile and air-defense platform, without outsourcing from the U.S. government, saving more than $10 million.

Lt. Col. Lim Jae-woon, an official of the air-defense bureau of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), said that the U.S. government offered in September to install advanced software that operates Korea’s Master Control and Report Center (MCRC) through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.

“The U.S. proposed that it would upgrade the software at 15 billion won ($13.4 million) through the FMS, but we declined,” Lim said. “Instead, the Air Force Information Operations Center will lead the software development with a budget of 500 million won, while receiving 1.6 billion-won worth of technology transfer.”

The DAPA official said the Air Force has accumulated sufficient technology in relevant areas to upgrade MCRC software without a third party and his agency estimates that the Air Force will save roughly 12.9 billion won.

The MCRC at Osan Air Base, south of Seoul, monitors activities of North Korean aircraft and ballistic missiles and operates guided weapons to intercept them, including the Patriot Advanced Capability 2 system and Hawk missiles.

Lim said the software upgrade will significantly improve the MCRC’s capabilities to communicate and give instructions to lower air-defense units that operate the Integrated Command and Control (ICC) system via high speed Link 16 datalinks, a military tactical data exchange network.

Lim added this will also prevent a potential leak of Korea’s own technology and reduce the estimated duration of the revamping by about nine months.

The move came as Korea seeks to develop its own version of advanced Patriot missiles to counter North Korean ballistic missiles.

Seoul plans to outline the ambitious development plan early next year.

In 2007, the military purchased 48 secondhand PAC-2 systems from Germany but they are optimized primarily for engagements against aircraft with limited capability to deter missiles.

The PAC-2 missile detonates its explosive fragmentation warhead as it approaches near the target, knocking it off course with its blast fragmentation.

Lim said Korea will be able to upgrade the existing Patriot equipment to a PAC-3 Configuration 3 system capable of launching PAC-3 hit-to-kill missiles for around 200 billion won.

koreatimes

Suspicious des technologies volées, des États-Unis suspend les exportations d'armes à la Corée du Sud

Citation :

Après la guerre des nerfs entre la Corée du Sud et les Etats-Unis sur la divulgation non autorisée démantèlement des «Tiger Eyes», un ensemble de capteurs installés sur le F-15K, en Août et Septembre, la controverse sur la technologie de défense de l'industrie a été récemment volé la propagation à d'autres des armes. Le Programme d'acquisition de défense de l'administration (DAPA) et d'autres sont officiellement minimisé l'importance de la question, mais il ya des signes les retombées peuvent se développer, avec les États-Unis de suspendre les exportations d'armements stratégiques à la Corée du Sud.

Following the war of nerves between South Korea and the United States over the unauthorized dismantling of “Tiger Eyes,” a sensor suite installed on the F-15K, in August and September, the controversy over stealing defense industry technology has recently been spreading to other weapons. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and others are officially playing down the importance of the issue, but there are signs the fallout may grow, with the United States suspending the export of strategic weaponry to South Korea.

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/506385.html

Le coréen est un peu chinois dans l’âme finalement ah ces asiate...

Nano a écrit:

Le coréen est un peu chinois dans l’âme finalement ah ces asiate...

Tout le monde l'est un petit peu faut juste ne pas se faire choper

Une autre fois encore

Citation :

Air Force under fire for losing highly classified documents


The Air Force was found to have lost two highly classified documents and failed to notify the proper authorities for several months, once again raising concerns over a lack of security within the military.

According to information revealed by Rep. Shin Hak-yong of the Democratic Party, Operational Plan 3600-06 and Operational Order 2500 were lost in December 2010 after the then-chief of Air Force Operations Command Lieutenant General Lee Young-man reviewed them. Lee is currently serving as the deputy chief of staff of the Air Force.

The documents Operational Plan 3600-06 and Operational Order 2500 are respectively second- and third-grade secrets, and are required to be kept in secure containers with two locking mechanisms.

However, the files were not stored according to regulation and on Dec. 29, several days after the files were first taken out, Lee’s orderly placed them along with others in a truck collecting documents to be destroyed.

The Air Force is said to have noticed that the documents were missing between April and June.

When internal investigations failed to locate the documents, the Air Force reported the developments to the Defense Security Command on Sept. 5, despite being required to report such developments to the counterintelligence division immediately.

An Air Force public relations official refused to comment on the issue.

In the ensuing investigation, the Defense Security Command found that the orderly was told by Lee’s former aide, a colonel, to shred the documents as he was cleaning out his office.

The orderly noticed that the files were marked as classified and considered whether they should be discarded, but decided to do place them in the collection truck without reporting in order to avoid creating extra work, a Defense Security Command official said.

The security command has concluded that information contained in the files has not been leaked.

However, the incident highlights lax information security and the military’s disregard for related regulations, a long-standing issue in the Korean military.

In 2009, contents of a second-grade secret document containing details about Korea and U.S. joint operations in wartime were leaked, and 73 pages of the same operational plans were leaked on the internet in 2007.

The number of information security breaches has also been on the rise.

According to data, 22 such incidents occurred during the first six months of the year. In comparison, the number came in at 29 for last year and 27 in 2009.

koreaherald

J'éspère pas posté mais j'adore cet hélico...

Hélico Kaman Ka-32A Helix "004".

Citation :

Unmanned tilt-rotor vertical take-off aircraft unveiled

An unmanned tilt-rotor aircraft developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) makes a demonstration flight at an aviation center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, Wednesday. / Courtesy of KARI

By Jung Sung-ki

A state-funded aviation research institute unveiled an unmanned tilt-rotor aircraft Wednesday, making Korea one of the world’s few countries having the technology of vertical take-off and landing plane using helicopter-like rotors at the wingtips.

Currently, only a couple of countries, including the United States, Israel and the United Kingdom, have the tilt-rotor technology or are proceeding with that kind of programs.

The “transformer” unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) aircraft was developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) affiliated with the Ministry of Knowledge Economy in cooperation with private defense companies, a KARI official said. The UAV project started in 2002.

“Normally a UAV is operated by remote control dozens or hundreds of kilometers away, so a convergence IT technology of data transmission and others is very important,” Park Kyun-je, head of KARI’s smart UAV development team, said after the tilt-rotor’s demonstration flight at an aviation center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province.

“We’ve secured that key technology of our own and that’s so meaningful in this development project,” he said, adding the Korean tilt-rotor aircraft is remote-controlled by 200 kilometers away.

The 5-meter-long, 7-meter-wide aircraft has a top cruise speed of 500 kilometers per hour, according to the researcher. Its fly-by-wire flight control system was developed by the domestic developers while rotor and drive systems were built under an international partnership. About 20 domestic companies participated in the UAV development. Among the major developers are LIG Nex1, Huneed Technologies and Youngpoong Electronics.

The UAV is to be used both for military and civil purposes, such as traffic controls and the prevention of forest fires as well as weather and environmental surveys, according to KARI officials.

Mass production is expected to begin in less than three years after more test trials on collision detection systems and flight speed are completed next March, they said.

The institute is also working on to downsize the aircraft to about 60 percent of its original form to develop a smaller variant dubbed TR-6X.
“The smart UAV can also be used as the platform for a personal air vehicle that is capable of door-to-door operations without a runway,” an official at the ministry said.

UAVs make up the world’s aerospace industry’s most dynamic growth sector, according to reports, as UAV spending is on pace to double during the next decade from current worldwide expenditures of $5.9 billion annually to $11.3 billion, totaling just more than $94 billion.

Experts say the growth in the UAV market will be driven by internal and external security threats, modernization initiatives and territorial disputes.

The United States is the biggest UAV market in the world and will account for 69 percent of procurement over the next decade, according to a March report released by Teal Group, a U.S. based private aerospace and defense research agency.



The South Korean Tiltrotar UAV has yet to receive an official name; There is only one other aircraft with tilt-rotors in the world, which is the V-22 Osprey used by the U.S. Marine Corp.

koreatimes

Citation :

Major named Air Force Top Gun

Maj. Shin Kun-woo (Air Force)

Maj. Shin Kun-woo of the Air Force’s 122nd Fighter Squadron was named the Top Gun pilot for 2011, the Air Force announced Thursday.

The Air Force has named a Top Gun pilot each year since 1979. The top pilot is selected based on their performance over a period of one year.

The selection criteria include flight experience, level of professional knowledge, physical fitness and operational experience.

The pilots are also judged on their performance in live-fire drills.

According to the Air Force, Shin scored 861.2 points out of a possible 1,000 points to be named this year’s Top Gun pilot.

The Air Force added that Shin also scored the highest points in this year’s live-fire drill to be named the best pilot among those who fly F-15K fighter jets.

Shin graduated from the Korea Air Force Academy and was commissioned in 1997. Shin has been piloting an F-15K since 2007, and currently serves as a flight leader in the 122nd Fighter Squadron.

Shin has clocked 2.400 hours of flight time, including time in an F-4D, during which he received a chief of staff award, the Air Force said.

koreaherald

Citation :

Korea to purchase 170 stealth cruise missiles next year

Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile

Designed to destroy high value targets

By Lee Tae-hoon

Korea will purchase some 170 air-to-surface stealth cruise missiles next year capable of destroying high value targets such as military leaders or launching pads for nuclear weapons, multiple sources said Tuesday.

A National Assembly official said the government has set aside 388 billion won ($343 million) to procure 177 low-observable, long-range, precision guided stand-off missiles that can be launched from F-15Ks, F-16Ks and other advanced jets after system integration.

He said the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) from the American defense giant Lockheed Martin will vie with the Taurus, air-launched missile manufactured by Germany-based Taurus Systems GmbH.

“JASSM is much cheaper and easier to integrate with the existing fleet of its American aircraft, but South Korea may have no other alternative but to choose the Taurus if the U.S. Congress continues to delay the authorization for the export of JASSM,” the official said.

A government source said the unit cost of JASSM was about 1.2 billion won, whereas that of the Taurus was 3.6 billion won when Seoul requested quotations in 2009.

“Seoul wants to introduce them as they will function as an effective deterrent against North Korea’s provocations,” he said. “It can be fired from Seoul and hit any targets in Pyongyang, including North Korean leader Kim Jong-il attending a massive military parade or other ceremonies, by using its GPS-aided inertial navigation system.”

The plan to purchase state-of-art guided missiles gained much of its momentum after Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin announced in March that he would alter the nation’s military posture from passive defense to proactive deterrence to address the North’s growing military threats.

“If the Pentagon issues the LOA (Letter of Offer and Acceptance) early next year, we plan to assess the two air-to-surface guided missiles over their performance, price and the extent of technology transfer and select the winner no later than September 2012,” a senior military official said.

He said if the acquisition program runs without a hitch, the South will likely be able to deploy the first batch of missiles in late 2013.

The official, however, did not rule out the possibility of the plan being shelved if the U.S. Congress does not give a green light to the export of JASSM by June next year and if Taurus Systems GmbH continues to demand too high a price.

“The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) may reconsider the project and push the development of indigenous air-to-surface cruise missiles if it cannot buy them at a reasonable price and secure a guarantee of substantial technology transfer,” he said.

Australia is the only foreign country to have the JASSM in its inventory. Several countries, such as Finland and India, are negotiating with Washington over the sales of the fire-and-forget missile capable of destroying well-defended, fixed and re-locatable targets with pinpoint accuracy.

JASSM has an operation range of 370 kilometers and a warhead of 450 kilograms.

German and Spain operate Taurus, which can fly more than 500 kilometers with a warhead of 500 kilograms.

Morri Leland, a director of Lockheed Martin, said JASSM would be a great choice for the South as it has threats that demand certain scenarios that include hard-to-penetrate, pin-point, and heavily defended targets.

“It was specifically designed for very high threat scenarios like those Korea faces,” he said.

JASSM can navigate autonomously in adverse weather, day or night to its programmed target through a preprogrammed route with the help of its anti-jam GPS and infrared seeker before destroying its target.

koreatimes

le JASSM n´est plus interdit a l´export,puisque la finalande(citée encore comme interessée) l´a deja demandé en FMS fin octobre
http://www.dsca.mil/PressReleases/36-b/2011/Finland_11-37.pdf

un upgrad est prévu pour les KF-16, avec de nouveau avionics, des Pods EO/IR et ELINT ainsi qu'un Radar AESA

Citation :

Boeing delivers 2nd 7373 AEW&C for RoKAF


ROKAF BASE GIMHAE, South Korea, Dec. 13, 2011 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today delivered the second Peace Eye 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft to the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF).

The aircraft was delivered ahead of schedule to ROKAF Base Gimhae, the main operating base for the Peace Eye fleet. Peace Eye No. 2 is the first aircraft in the fleet to be modified into an AEW&C configuration by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) at its facility in Sacheon.

"The quality of KAI's work has been outstanding. Their commitment to excellence, their focus and their technical expertise were critical to the achievement of this major milestone," said Randy Price, Peace Eye program manager for Boeing.

Two additional Peace Eye aircraft are being modified by KAI in Sacheon and will be delivered to the ROKAF in 2012.

The Peace Eye program includes four 737 AEW&C aircraft plus ground support segments for mission crew training, mission support and system maintenance. 737-based AEW&C aircraft also are in production for the governments of Australia and Turkey.

Based on the Boeing Next-Generation 737-700 commercial airplane, the 737 AEW&C aircraft is designed to provide airborne-battle-management capability with an advanced multirole electronically scanned radar and 10 state-of-the-art mission crew consoles that are able to track airborne and maritime targets simultaneously. The mission crew can direct offensive and defensive forces while maintaining continuous surveillance of the operational area.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world's largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $32 billion business with 63,000 employees worldwide. Follow us on Twitter: @BoeingDefense.

mediaroom

Citation :

Safran : va moderniser les sous-marins sud-coréens

Sagem (Safran) a remporté le contrat de modernisation des sous-marins coréens. "Ce nouveau succès en Corée du Sud confirme son leadership dans le domaine de l'inertie de précision", se réjouit le groupe.

La marine sud-coréenne a retenu Sagem pour moderniser le système de navigation des sous-marins KSS-1 de la classe Chang Bogo. Un premier submersible sera équipé de deux centrales de navigation inertielle Sigma 40XP : une fois le rétrofit vérifié en opération, cinq autres bâtiments de sa classe seront à leur tour modernisés.

Boursier.com

Citation :

Northrop Grumman Sale of Global Hawk Spy Drones to South Korea May Stall


The sale of as many as four Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) Global Hawk drones to help improve South Korea’s reconnaissance capability may have stalled.

The delay, combined with a potential reduction in U-2 surveillance flights over and near North Korea, might degrade U.S. and South Korea ability to monitor events in the communist regime, lawmakers said in a report accompanying the $662 billion defense policy bill for fiscal 2012.

They didn’t elaborate on the reasons behind the delay. The report said only that the possible sale “appears to have stalled” and that House and Senate defense committee lawmakers “intend to assess whether the risk of a gap in intelligence collection in Korea is significant and to examine alternative capabilities.”

North Korean’s leadership is undergoing a leadership transition after Kim Jong Il died Dec. 17 of a heart attack brought on by mental and physical strain, the official Korean Central News Agency said. His son, Kim Jong Un, is the designated successor.

South Korea was planning to buy at least one Global Hawk “to be able to have intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance type assets to look into North Korea,” General Walter Sharp, then-commander of U.S. Forces in Korea, told the House Armed Services Committee in April.

Spy Plane Retirement


The foreign sale of Global Hawk drones would offset program reductions that the Pentagon made this year. Eleven of the planned 55 drones in the Pentagon program were cut because the estimated cost per aircraft this year has increased to $113.9 million from $90.8 million.

The Global Hawk disclosure came in language prohibiting retirement of Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT)’s manned U-2 spy plane, which is less expensive to operate but doesn’t have the same endurance or ability to make longer flights.

Lawmakers directed the Air Force to delay the spy plane’s retirement until the Pentagon certifies Global Hawk operations and support costs.

The lawmakers said prematurely retiring the U-2 in the face of a stalled Global Hawk sale might result in an intelligence gap over North Korea.

The lawmakers also said they were concerned with a pending plan by U.S. Pacific Command that would result in fewer U.S.- controlled Global Hawks near Korea and more flying in other parts of Asia.

This move might mean “substantially reducing collection on the peninsula,” lawmakers said.

Global Hawk Commitment


Pentagon Korea affairs spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Todd Breasseale said Defense Department officials “as a matter of policy decline to comment on potential arms sales until they have been formally notified to Congress.”

Randy Belote, a spokesman for Falls Church, Virginia-based Northrop Grumman, said in an e-mail statement that, though no formal letter of agreement has been signed with South Korea, a potential Global Hawk program for as many as four aircraft is progressing.

“We continue to work with the U.S. Air Force and have not been notified of any changes,” he wrote. “We believe the Korea and U.S. governments remain committed to the Global Hawk program.”

The unmanned Global Hawk is able to fly as high as 60,000 feet and is equipped with sensors and cameras that can take infrared and electro-optical images as well as detailed synthetic aperture radar-based pictures. It is designed for flights as long as 35 hours, according to the company.

Retaining the U-2 aircraft, which flies as high as 70,000 feet, may be necessary because the Global Hawk’s picture-taking sensors “have substantially less range” than on the older spy plane, lawmakers wrote.

bloomberg

Citation :

Korea Coast Guard receives third CN-235 MPA

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Korea Coast Guard (KCG) received on Friday its third CN-235 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) from state-owned aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI) in Bandung.

The South Korean agency placed an order in December 2008 to acquire four CN-235 MPAs in a total contract worth US$94 million.

“Before the third CN-235 MPA is flown to South Korea, the aircraft had undergone a testing series according to existing procedures and has carried out an admissions test,” PT DI aircraft integration director Budiman Saleh was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.

Despite having its own aerospace company, South Korea has ordered a number of CN-235s from PT DI for personnel and VIP transport missions since 1994.

“We have to maintain trust so that PT DI will continue to acquire new contracts, not only from South Korea, but also from other customers who need aircraft in the CN-235 class,” Budiman said.

He said the first and second aircraft for KCG were delivered in May, while the final aircraft would be delivered in the first quarter of 2012.

The CN-235 MPA is equipped with various specialized instruments, including forward-looking infra-red (IFF), identification friend-or-foe (IFF), tactical navigation and surveillance cameras to name a few.

PT DI reportedly defeated other industry contenders from Israel, Spain and the US to win the contract. (nvn)

thejakartapost

Citation :

New Spy Plane to Watch N.Korean Missile Launches


The South Korean military will introduce new high-tech reconnaissance aircraft capable of intercepting communications and detecting missile launches in North Korea.

A government source on Sunday said the existing reconnaissance aircraft -- the Geumgang for visual information and the Baekdu for communications intercepts -- have only limited capabilities, so the military will buy two Falcon 2000s from French firm Dassault.

The planes will chiefly intercept North Korean wireless communications or detect the frequencies of weapons and equipment. They are also capable of detecting missile launches with infrared heat sensors.

South Korea currently relies on the U.S. Defense Support Program's early warning satellite system for detecting missiles.

The Falcon 2000 can carry a lot more reconnaissance equipment and carry out aerial surveillance activities for a longer period of time because it is bigger than the existing craft and has a longer range.

chosun

Citation :

U.S. forces S. Korea to delay purchase of Global Hawk spy drones: source


SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's plan to purchase Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance planes has been put off by one year as the U.S. government has not agreed to the sale yet, a government source said Monday.

With the planned purchase of the Global Hawks hitting a snag, South Korea plans to invite two more models of U.S.-made spy drones -- the Global Observer made by AeroVironment and Boeing's Phantom Eye -- to bid for the project, the source said.

"We will map out a new acquisition plan next year to select one among the three models," the source said.

Last year, Seoul asked Washington to sell it the U.S.-made RQ-4 Global Hawk spy planes by 2015 and expected to receive final approval for the planned purchase from the U.S. Defense Department by June of this year.

The Pentagon has not given the official go-ahead, however, the source said.

"The U.S. has yet to send a letter of agreement to sell the Global Hawk high-altitude surveillance planes to us," the source at the South Korean government said, on condition of anonymity. "That prompted us to postpone the project of acquiring the high-altitude surveillance aircraft to 2016."

The source didn't say why the U.S. government, which has jurisdiction over the sale of the advanced spy drones built by American defense contractor Northrop Grumman, has failed to give approval.

He indicated, however, that a price increase may be among the potential reasons.

The price of each Global Hawk jumped to 940 billion won (US$813.9 million) from an initially estimated tag of some 400 billion won, according to the source.

South Korea's military has been under pressure to beef up its surveillance capabilities following North Korea's two deadly military attacks on the South last year.

The North's shelling of Yeonpyeong Island near the Yellow Sea border killed two civilians and two marines. It came just eight months after a North Korean torpedo sank a South Korean warship, killing 46 sailors.

yonhapnews

Citation :

S. Korea to buy 2 advanced spy planes from France


SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to buy two advanced reconnaissance planes from France by 2015, to allow the military to intercept radio messages from of North Korea, a government source said Monday.

The South's military will replace some of its aging spy planes with the militarized specialty version of "Falcon-2000" jet, produced by France's Dassault Aviation, to keep closer watch on North Korea, the source said on the condition of anonymity.

"The military decided to introduce two Falcon-2000 reconnaissance planes to replace its old spy planes that have a short range and old equipment," the source said.

The decision comes after South Korea's intelligence and military leaders came under fire for failing to detect the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il until the North announced it a week earlier.

Kim, who ruled North Korea with an iron fist after inheriting power from his father and national founder Kim Il-sung in 1994, was reported to have died of a heart attack on Dec. 17.

South Korea's Air Force is currently using a fleet of RC-800s, built by U.S. firm Raytheon, for tactical reconnaissance and surveillance operations.

Deployment of the French spy jets will take place before December 2015, when South Korea is scheduled to retake wartime operational control over its troops from the U.S., the source said.

The U.S. has held wartime command of South Korean troops since the beginning of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Seoul regained peacetime control of its military in 1994.

About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against the North and it is no secret that South Korea shares U.S. intelligence on North Korea. The U.S. routinely flies reconnaissance planes along the border and closely monitors the North through its spy satellites.

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