DPRK: New Generation of Missile Threats v. US Maximum Pressure

[soryang]

1. North Korea's new weapons take aim at the South's F-35 stealth fighters

North Korea’s new weapons take aim at the South’s F-35 stealth fighters

By: Jeff Jeong   2 days ago

https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/smd/2019/08/01/north-koreas-new-weapons-take-aim-at-souths-f-35-stealth-fighters/

“The blurred photos revealed by the North show the multiple-launch rocket system is a larger caliber than the existing 300mm MLRS, and it resembles the Chinese-made 400mm, guided WS-2 MLRS,” said Kim Dong-yub, an analyst with the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University, Seoul.

...Indeed, the country is on track to set up the low-tier Korea Air and Missile Defense system. The shield includes Patriot Advanced Capability-2 and -3 interceptors, ship-based SM-2 missiles, and locally developed medium-range surface-to-air missiles.

“The South Korean military has PAC-2 batteries in place to protect key bases, but they are unequal to the new type of North Korean ballistic missiles in the case of an emergency,” said Kim Yeon-hwan, a defense professor at Kookmin University in Seoul. “To thwart new types of threats, the military needs to beef up air defense systems.”

South Korea has deployed eight batteries of upgraded PAC-2s bought from Germany, and it plans to procure newer PAC-3 missiles by 2020.