South Korea's Military Manufacturer Delivers Enhanced Air Defense Missile Systems

SEOUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th November, 2020) The South Korean military's arsenal was enhanced with a modernized air defense missile system Cheongung II in November, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Thursday.

According to a statement on DAPA's website, the Cheongung II is a medium-range ground-to-air intercept system designed to respond to ballistic missiles and air attacks. Comparable to the US cornerstone Patriot missile systems, the Cheongung II is enhanced with an autonomous radar system outfitted to pursue air targets of a variety of sizes and flight patterns.

"Developed by the Defense Science Research Institute since 2012, the new missile system has recorded 100% accuracy in repeated test launches and was judged suitable for combat use in June 2017, started mass production in 2018.

Now we are delivering the first battery," the DAPA statement read.

This is part of a larger scale push to boost the country's military capabilities across the board, a campaign that has spanned various transcended governments and presidents. Seoul's defensive push has seen it enhance domestic arms production to commission a line of a largely homemade submarine class, acquire a $6 billion F-35 squadron from the US and upgrade missile systems of all varieties. The Defense Ministry had unveiled what it called the Korea Tactical Surface-to-Surface Missile designed to destroy North Korea's underground-parked canister launch missiles. It intends to have some 200 systems deployed by 2025.