This is the right thing to do considering North Korea’s capability to easily target one airbase with ballistic missiles. Spreading the F-35’s over multiple bases complicates the Kim regime’s targeting:
The South Korean air force plans to disperse its newest fleet of F-35A Lightning II stealth jets throughout the country, rather than at just one base, to better respond to North Korean threats, according to local media. Seoul agreed to purchase the 20 F-35As, expected to be operational by 2027, from the United States for nearly $2.9 billion in December.
It also agreed to buy $271 million worth of munitions for the aircraft that month. The country received its first 40 F-35As from a $7 billion deal in 2019. The new aircraft will be assigned to several, unspecified installations instead of operating out of Cheongju Air Base, which is home to the current F-35 fleet, unnamed officials said in a Yonhap News report Monday.
Maybe South Korea should mass produce these missles and sell them to Ukraine?:
South Korea’s military test-fired a short-range ballistic missile Thursday to demonstrate it could “respond to any North Korean provocations” following the communist regime’s recent missile launches.
The South Korean Missile Strategy Command fired a Hyunmoo-2 missile from South Chungcheong Province, about 65 miles southwest of Seoul, to demonstrate the command’s ability to make “precision strikes against the enemy’s origin of provocation,” according to a news release Friday from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The domestically made weapon flew roughly 125 miles to strike a simulated target in the Yellow Sea, also known as the West Sea, the Joint Chiefs said.
I argue the ROK military is not seeing a rise in sexual misconduct, but instead a rise in females willing to report it:
The number of reports of sexual misconduct against female service members has surged in recent years, increasing by more than sixfold from 2020 to 2023, a lawmaker said Wednesday, citing data from the defense ministry.
The number of such reports stood at 135 in 2020 before reaching 366 in 2021, 673 in 2022, 867 in 2023 and 604 as of September this year, according to the data submitted to Rep. Hwang Hee of the main opposition Democratic Party.
Of the total 2,645 cases over the period, 1,730 were reports of sexual harassment, while 915 were those on other sexual violence, such as rape and sexual assault.
The South Korean military held its second consecutive Armed Forces Day parade, marking the first time since 1987 that such a parade has been held two years in a row, despite criticism it is a relic of the country’s past military dictatorships. https://t.co/2s9LWFTPzH
I kind of assumed the K9 would have had its own domestically produced engine considering Korea’s manufacturing prowess; regardless soon it will have a Korean made engine:
South Korea has produced the first homegrown engine for the country’s K9 self-propelled howitzer after a yearslong development project, the state arms procurement agency said Friday.
The move comes after the country began the 32.16 billion-won (US$24.5 million) project in 2021, involving STX Engine Co., Hanwha Aerospace Co. and others, as part of efforts to reduce reliance on foreign defense parts, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).
The K9, produced by Hanwha Aerospace, has been powered by a German MTU engine, built by STX Engine under a license.
DAPA said the homegrown engine will be more cost efficient and have improved performance. It is also expected to help efforts to export the K9 as it would not need to undergo extra approval procedures required for components of foreign origin.
Drones are now an extremely important part of modern warfare and the ROK military is planning to purchase some of the most combat proven systems:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects what the North claims to be suicide drones at the Drone Institute of the Academy of Defence Sciences, Aug. 24, in this photo released by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency two days later. Yonhap
The South Korean military is set to purchase Polish loitering munitions within this year, a move experts believe will significantly bolster the nation’s ability to counter North Korea’s purported suicide drones. The Polish drones, proven effective on the battlefield in Ukraine against Russian forces, could be a game changer in airborne warfare, analysts said.
According to military sources, Tuesday, the Ministry of National Defense recently submitted a request to acquire military drones to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), which is now preparing to announce the bid.
Fighter aircraft is the latest defense industry that ROK defense contractors are hoping to take market share of:
South Korea, an industrial and tech powerhouse, was once so poor that its citizens donated money so the government could buy five American fighter jets in case of a North Korean invasion. Now, South Korea is a global weapons producer and seller. It is the third-largest arms supplier to NATO countries, with affordable weapons for nations seeking to refill their stockpiles of K2 battle tanks, K9 self-propelled howitzers and other items.
Its ascent underscores the nation’s dramatic economic and diplomatic evolution since that 1975 national fundraising drive for the American F-4 Phantoms. South Korea retired those Cold War-era jets in June after more than five decades in use — making way for a new generation of homegrown fighter aircraft that will make South Korea one of the few nations to develop its own supersonic jet.
South Korea hopes its KF-21 Boramae will be a cheaper alternative to the U.S.-made F-35. The prototype was unveiled in 2021, and mass production is set to begin in 2026. “South Korea is making a big push to engage globally,” said Peter Layton, a military analyst and visiting fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute in Brisbane, Australia. “They’re going from a big buyer to not just a maker but a designer of aircraft.”
I guess we will see if robotics becomes another defense industry product that the ROK can reliably produce:
The state arms procurement agency said Monday it has test-deployed a multi-legged robot designed for counter-terrorism operations as part of a push to introduce advanced technologies to the military.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) launched the project in August 2022 to develop a robot that can check for threats inside buildings in a terror situation before troops are deployed.
The Army received the robot last Wednesday to conduct the six-month trial run to determine whether it is suitable for operations. The Army Special Warfare Command and a front-line Army division will assess its performance and capabilities.
#Marines with @3d_Marine_Div conduct exercise Korea Viper 24.2 at Rodriguez Live-Fire Complex, South Korea.
Korea Viper is a recurring exercise series demonstrating the Republic of Korea and the U.S. Marine Corps' ability to respond decisively in the region as a unified force. pic.twitter.com/nZ8mksQIOX
If South Korea develops their own nuclear powered submarines it would not be because of threats from North Korea, but instead preparing for war with China instead:
The chief of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command has said the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) in South Korea could be considered in the future depending on its operational analysis, the presidential office said Sunday.
“From the standpoint of submarine warfare, I think it’s important as allies and partners to find the most efficient and effective ways to combine our capabilities in ways that most effectively defend our alliances and partnerships,” Commander Adm. Samuel Paparo said during an interview with the South Korean press Thursday on the runway of the Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.
“And if the operational analysis leads us to believe that, then we can move forward at a later date,” he added.
