SEOUL, June 2 (UPI) -- South Korea's arms procurement agency said it plans to develop a guided missile for light-armed helicopters, using domestic technology.
Seoul's Defense Acquisition Program Administration said Tuesday the program would equip light-armed helicopters, or LAH, with air-to-ground missiles by 2022. By 2023, the South Korea-made guided missiles are to be put into mass production, Yonhap reported.
South Korean newspaper Kyunghyang Sinmun reported the new anti-tank missiles would be designed to precisely hit enemy convoys, and are to replace TOW, or the tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided missiles dispatched from land vehicles.
Defense Minister Han Min-koo said the new air-to-ground missile would employ multi-mode guidance and data links to spot land-based targets and tanks, while significantly raising the probability of the helicopter pilot's survival.
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South Korea's Agency for Defense Development is to oversee the $144 million missile development project until 2023, when the guided missiles are to become part of Seoul's overall defense strategy.
Seoul's arms procurement agency also said a small command vehicle with mobility is to be developed to replace a tent-type command center, and a next-generation convoy, the Ulsan Class Batch III, is to replace the South Korean navy's older generation of patrol frigates.
Yonhap reported the development of the Ulsan Class Batch III would cost Seoul around $2.9 billion and development is to begin in 2016. The small command vehicles under development are estimated to cost $855 million and go into mass production in 2019.
The Ulsan Class Batch III is a network of anti-aircraft and anti-submarine detectors that will respond more quickly to maritime provocations from enemy targets.
