Something to remember is that a Patriot battery is not going to protect Seoul against North Korea’s artillery which is the real defense problem for the nation’s capitol:
A Patriot surface-to-air missile battery has recently been installed on Mount Bukak near Cheong Wa Dae in central Seoul, according to political sources, Tuesday. The battery system reportedly consists of a launcher for PAC-2 (Patriot advanced capability-2) missiles and another one for PAC-3 missiles.
Korea Times
The deployment of the unit in Seoul is aimed at strengthening the defense of the capital. The plan was devised after South Korea allowed the United States to deploy a terminal high-altitude area defense (THAAD) battery in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province in 2017. While the THAAD system has strengthened the defense of the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, concerns have been that defense of the capital area was relatively weak.
You can read more at the link.
Air Force soldiers fire a Patriot missile during an air-defense artillery contest in the city of Boryeong on South Korea’s west coast on Oct. 13, 2015. The Air Force said the two missiles they fired successfully destroyed two target drones. (Yonhap)
It will be interesting to see where this important airbase is relocated to and if the Patriot missile units located there will follow them:
U.S. military officials have yet to determine where a Patriot missile battery will be stationed after its current site, a South Korean air base, closes.
Suwon Air Base, roughly 20 miles south of Seoul, will be relocated following noise and damage complaints and a formal request from the local government, South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense recently announced.
Four batteries with the U.S. 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade are stationed there along with South Korea’s 10th Fighter Wing. A U.S. airman from the 607th Materiel Maintenance Squadron is also permanently stationed at Suwon.
The base’s relocation, which could take a decade, is projected to cost $6.3 million, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency has reported. The defense ministry said the search for a new site will begin soon. No particular sites are under consideration for the relocation of the base or the U.S. forces stationed there, an MND spokesman said. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but fortunately the ROK Air Force has given themselves 10 years to figure out where the new airbase will go.
If you have some spare PATRIOT missiles for sale I know a buyer for you:
From next year, South Korea will replace its ageing ground-to-air Nike missiles, introduced 40 years ago, with Patriot missiles, the defence ministry said. A decision on whether to buy new missiles directly from the United States or second-hand ones from Germany has yet to be taken, it added.
“We may buy US-made Patriot missiles from Germany,” a ministry official said. The South Korean military had planned to buy 48 Patriot missiles from the United States in 2000, but the plan was scrapped because of a dispute over the cost.
Currently there are PATRIOT missile units located in Suwon, Osan, Kunsan, and Kwangju providing air and missile defense to those areas. The missiles located in those areas are called PATRIOT PAC-3 missiles which are much more advanced than the PAC-2 missiles that would be sold to the South Koreans. Still it is a good sign that the ROK military is looking to increase their own idependent defense capabilities. However, will this lead to the US PATRIOT missile batteries leaving Korea? I seriously doubt that will happen any time soon.
