Month: January 2024

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<p class=”text-body text-muted small”>South Korea regards its Lockheed Martin F-35A fleet as being a critical component of its ‘Three-Axis’ kill-chain system. (South Korea Ministry of National Defense)</p>
<p>South Korea has signed a letter of acceptance (LOA) to acquire additional Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II fifth-generation fighter aircraft.</p>
<p>The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said on 1 January that the LOA was signed in December. <em>Janes </em>previously reported in September 2023 that South Korea had requested a sale of as many as 25 F-35As from the US government plus associated parts and components through Foreign Military Sales (FMS) with a value of USD5.06 billion. The acquisitions are part of the second phase of the next-generation fighter aircraft (F-X) acquisition programme, according to DAPA.</p>
<p>The LOA came days after South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Committee deliberated on 4 December 2023 to acquire the F-35As. According to DAPA, the committee considered evaluations of need and negotiation results with the US before approving the acquisition.</p>
<p>DAPA added that it also conducted “effective negotiations to reduce project costs, despite the limited competition and the nature of the Foreign Military Sales”. The agency has not specified the updated cost of acquisition.</p>
<p>It added that the signing of the LOA was led by a special negotiating team composed of the “radiation agency, military, and civilian advisors” from April 2023. The team “negotiated [the procurement, based] on the experience of the first project and the know-how of aircraft operation during the period”, DAPA said.</p>
<p>The 40 aircraft in the first phase of the F-35A acquisition programme were delivered and deployed from 2019 to 2022, according to DAPA.</p>

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<p class=”text-body text-muted small”>LIG Nex1 displayed a mock-up of its LAMD system at the DX Korea defence show in 2022. The missile is 165 mm in diameter and will intercept targets at a maximum firing range of 7 km and at an altitude of 5 km. (Janes/Jon Grevatt)</p>
<p>South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has accelerated the exploration and development of the low-altitude missile defence (LAMD) system – also known as the long-range artillery interception system – by a year, the agency said in a press release on 1 January.</p>
<p>According to DAPA, the system’s exploration and development – originally scheduled for 2025 – has been accelerated to 2024 to counter North Korean long-range artillery.</p>
<p>South Korea’s local military technology firm LIG Nex1 began developing the LAMD system in collaboration with the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) – a DAPA subsidiary – in early 2022.</p>
<p>DAPA said that the LAMD exploration and development was initially planned for three years beginning in 2022.</p>
<p>However, to complete the LAMD’s exploration and development in 2024 – one year earlier than planned – the system’s core technological development was finished in June 2023, DAPA added.</p>
<p>Further development and production will be carried out from 2025 to 2028, DAPA said.</p>
<p>According to the agency, a battery of the LAMD consists of a radar, an engagement control centre, a launcher, and an interceptor missile.</p>
<p>The system, test-fired for the first time in March 2022, is based on the Haegung Korean Surface-to-Air Anti-Missile (K-SAAM) system.</p>
<p><em>Janes</em> earlier reported that the LAMD missile will be fitted with an active radar seeker for terminal guidance. The missile will be 165 mm in diameter and is envisaged to intercept targets up to 7 km away and at an altitude of 5 km.</p>