South Korean Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

DRS Technologies Inc., a Finmeccanica Company, announced today the delivery of the first shipset Hybrid Electric Drive (HED) system for the Korean Navy’s future multipurpose Frigate known as FFX Batch II.
DRS Technologies Inc., a Finmeccanica Company, announced today the delivery of the first shipset Hybrid Electric Drive (HED) system for the Korean Navy’s future multipurpose Frigate known as FFX Batch II.
“We are proud to have our efficient and powerful Hybrid Electric Drive system as part of the this program to help ensure the success of the South Korean Navy’s new fleet of FFX II ships,” said Roger Sexauer, president of the DRS Maritime and Combat Support Systems Group. “This is the first of many of these remarkable systems we hope to provide to South Korea in support of their naval programs,” he said.
Up to eight of the FFX II ships are planned for construction. The initial ship was designed by, and is being built by, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. These ships are intended to replace an aging fleet of corvettes and frigates with greater capabilities.
FFX Batch II includes a hybrid electric drive system to allow for more efficient and quiet operation of the propulsion plant. The DRS HED system has a significant advantage in size, weight and power over conventional electric motors and produces more torque from the same amount of supplied current. The system’s smaller footprint allows for more flexibility in engine room design and increased cargo space, and its simpler construction results in proven reliability and durability.
The motors were designed and developed by DRS Power Technology, Inc. in Fitchburg, MA under a teaming arrangement with Hyosung Corporation, the prime contractor for the HED system to the shipbuilder and the drives were designed and developed by DRS Power and Control Technologies, Inc. in Milwaukee, WI.

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The US military wants to send a sophisticated missile-defense system to South Korea "as quickly as possible," the Pentagon said Monday as it seeks to counter an ever-defiant North Korea.

After Pyongyang's launch of a long-range rocket on Sunday, South Korean and US military officials said they would start formal discussions on placing the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD) on the North's doorstep.

Though the launch saw North Korea successfully blast a satellite into orbit, the United Nations and world powers quickly condemned the action as evidence Pyongyang is continuing to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the US mainland.

The launch came only weeks after North Korea carried the latest in a series of underground nuclear tests.

"Without getting into a timeline, we'd like to see this move as quickly as possible," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said of a possible THAAD deployment.

"We are beginning the consultations now and in the current days with the South Koreans, and we expect that this will move in an expeditious fashion."

America's highly deployable THAAD system fires anti-ballistic missiles into the sky to smash into enemy missiles either inside or outside the Earth's atmosphere during their final flight phase.

The interceptor missiles carry no warheads, instead relying on kinetic energy to destroy their targets.

While China firmly opposes the deployment of such anti-missile hardware so close to its borders, the move to place THAAD in South Korea underscores Washington's frustrations with Beijing's failure to take a tougher line with Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons program.

Cook stressed the missile defense system was in no way meant to pose a threat to China.

"If the THAAD system were deployed to the Korean Peninsula, it would be focused solely on North Korea, contribute to a layered missile defense that would enhance the alliance's existing missile defense capabilities against potential North Korean missile threats," he said.

"This is a defensive system put in place. We don't believe it should pose any kind of concern to the Chinese."

Rapidly deployable

A US defense official told AFP the anti-missile system could be deployed within one to two weeks of a deployment order.

"Once ... decisions are made, that (timeframe) is possible," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The THAAD system, in service since 2008, includes truck-mounted launchers, radars, interceptor missiles and global communications links.

Five THAAD batteries are currently operational, according to the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, and two more were ordered in 2014.

One of these is permanently based in Guam, home to a large US military base in the Pacific, to protect against any North Korean missiles.

About 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea and the two forces have very close military ties.

Cook said an eventual THAAD deployment would be operated by US forces in South Korea.

"The United States remains fully committed to the security of our allies in the region and we will take all necessary steps to defend ourselves and our allies and respond to North Korean provocations," he said.

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The Air Force will be wheels up once again over South Korea as more aircraft team up to conduct exercises in the region.

A-10 Thunderbolts from the 25th Fighter Squadron, Osan Air Base, along with aircraft and personnel from South Korea's 237th Fighter Squadron, Wonju Air Base, will participate in a three-day long exercise Buddy Wing 16-2, the Air Force said in a

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The 51st Fighter Wing out of Osan will host the aircraft beginning Feb. 22.

The second Buddy Wing this year will be just days after the Air Force sent four F-22s over the peninsula in a clear response

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, which include a recent launch of a long-range rocket and a so-called hydrogen bomb test last month. The F-22s were accompanied by U.S. F-16s and South Korea's F-15K Slam Eagles.

“The ROK and U.S. combined air forces remain ready to deter North Korean threats, and are postured to defeat them with the strength of our combined air combat capability,” Lt. Gen. Lee Wang-keon, the South Korea Air Force Operations Command commander,

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The U.S. military would not say how long the F-22s will be deployed in South Korea; however, F-22s from the 525th Fighter Squadron at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska and F-16s from the 18th Aggressor Squadron, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, deployed to Yokota Air Base, Japan, on Jan. 20 as part of a contingent of "more than 20 fighter aircraft" that would visit the base, U.S. Forces Japan spokesman Lt. Col. Kenneth Hoffman

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It is unclear if the aircraft that conducted the flyover yesterday are one in the same.

For the second Buddy Wing, officials will aim to integrate with ROK air force KA-1 Woongbi fighter aircraft from the 237th FS, in order to "plan and fly together during forward air control missions," the release said.

The KA-1 Woongbi has similar mission capability of forward air control like the Air Force's A-10,

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"Members participating in Buddy Wing 16-2 train to build relationships and broaden their knowledge of working in a joint environment with combined operations aimed at deterring enemy aggression," officials said.

A

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held Jan. 25 to 29 included U.S. forces training with ROK counterparts at Seosan Air Base, South Korea; Four F-16s from the 36th Fighter Squadron out of Osan and more than 10 South Korean KF-16Cs from the 121st Fighter Squadron participated.

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Jura said:

THAAD news
...

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China’s ambassador to South Korea warned Tuesday that the planned deployment of a US missile defense system in the country could damage Beijing-Seoul ties, possibly irreparably.

Once damaged, it would be “hard” to normalize relations between the two former Cold War enemies, Ambassador Qiu Guohong said, according to a spokesman for South Korea’s main opposition Minju party.

Qiu made the remarks when he met Minju party head Kim Jong-In at parliament. A spokesman for the Chinese embassy said the Minju party’s briefing on the meeting to journalists was accurate.

“It has taken much effort to develop China-South Korea ties to this degree. But these efforts could be destroyed in an instant because of one issue,” Qiu said in reference to the planned deployment of the advanced US missile defense system in South Korea.

China has repeatedly protested since Washington and Seoul announced plans to install the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) in the South, in response to North Korea’s recent nuclear test and rocket launch.

But Tuesday was the first time that a Chinese diplomat or official has warned of the effect on diplomatic ties with Seoul.

Qiu repeated Beijing’s argument that the THAAD deployment would “greatly undermine” China’s security interests, cause instability and spark a regional arms race.

“(South Korea) should consider whether its own security, under these circumstances, could be guaranteed,” Qiu said.

China fought alongside North Korea against the South and its allies during the 1950-53 war.

It established diplomatic ties with Seoul only in 1992 but is now the South’s top trading partner.

Earlier on Tuesday South Korea’s defense ministry said Washington and Seoul had postponed the signing of an accord, originally due on Tuesday, on setting up a joint working group to discuss details of the THAAD deployment.

The delay comes as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is set to visit Washington from Tuesday to meet his US counterpart John Kerry for possible talks on the controversial missile defense system and on North Korea.

The THAAD system fires anti-ballistic missiles to smash into enemy missiles either inside or outside the Earth’s atmosphere during their final flight phase.

The interceptor missiles carry no warheads, instead relying on kinetic energy to destroy their targets.

The allies announced their intention to begin talks on its deployment following Pyongyang’s long-range rocket launch on Feb. 7, which was seen by the US and its allies as a covert ballistic missile test.

China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying warned Monday the deployment of THAAD should not be used as a front to “undermine China’s own legitimate (security) interests.”

The South’s defense ministry reiterated Tuesday that the US system only targets North Korean missiles and that its deployment was an issue between the two allies.

The ministry said it expects official talks on THAAD to begin next week once the two sides set up the joint working group later this week.

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The Republic of Korea (ROK or South Korea) Navy announced it has officially opened its new naval base on the southern resort island of Jeju. Jeju island is strategically located in a sea passage connecting the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan (East Sea) in the northwest Pacific Ocean. According to the ROK Navy, it took the country 23 years and more than 1 trillion won (US$806 million) to complete construction of the base.

The ROK Navy stressed the new base will dramatically enhance the Navy's ability to counter North Korea's potential provocations at the sea borders both in the west and the east. The new naval compound also has in mind the mission to defend Ieo Island, known as Socotra Rock, a strategically important South Korean submerged rock located nearly 300 km southwest of Jeju. China has previously laid claims to the resource-rich rock, which South Korea controls with the presence of its maritime research center there.

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Naval Today said:

The Republic of Korea Navy has named its seventh Type 214, 1.800-ton attack submarine, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

Hong Beom-do, as the vessel was officially named is the Korean version of the Type 214 submarine developed by the German ship-builder Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.

A total of nine 65.3-meter submarines known as Son Won-Il-class will be built for South Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.

Three first-batch submarines have entered service since 2007, while the second-batch submarines are yet to do so.

Apart from South Korea, Portuguese and Hellenic (Greek) Navy also use submarines based on the Type 214 design.

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C4iSR: Joint & Common Equipment
Annual US/South Korean drills include targeting of North Korean leadership
Sebastien Falletti, Seoul- IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
08 March 2016

The United States and South Korea are staging a mock pre-emptive strike against the top North Korean leadership during the biggest war games they have ever conducted, fuelling the risk of military escalation on the Korean peninsula.

Republic of Korea Army K9 self-propelled howitzers in Paju, near the border with North Korea, on 7 March during the annual US/South Korean 'Foal Eagle' exercises. (AP/PA Images)

The joint exercises 'Foal Eagle' and 'Key Resolve', launched on 7 March, incorporate the so-called OPLAN 5015, which includes a pre-emptive strike against the North Korean nuclear arsenal and the top leadership in Pyongyang, according to sources in Seoul.

"This is a factor that increases risk of local conflict or possible skirmishes on the Yellow sea," Cheong Seong Chang, an analyst at the Sejong Institute in Seoul, toldIHS Jane's.

To read the full article,

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(108 of 403 words)

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PanAsian said:

Regime change coming to North Korea?

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TerraN_EmpirE said:

The Us and ROK run these all the time, and the ROKhas closer ties to the PRC these days. Infact I would say closer ties then the DPRK has to the PRC. So even if the ROK did move to decap the DPRK they would only do so if they felt that the PRC was giving atleast tacit approval.

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