03-09-2019, 07:31 PM
** 9-Mar-2019 South Korea's 3-layer missile defense system
North Korea's "charm offensive" seems clearly over. The news this
morning is that satellite images of increased activity around the
Sanumdong missile assembly site suggest that North Korea is preparing
to launch a missile or satellite. This follows reports last week that
the Sohae Launch Facility, used for testing long-range ballistic
missiles, is being rebuilt.
The failed Hanoi summit may have been the last straw for Kim. He may
have decided that if he can't use a "charm offensive" to trick the
Americans to agree to remove the sanctions with nothing in return --
using the same kinds of tricks that always worked for his father -- he
may as well resume testing.
As far as I can tell from correspondence with people in this forum and
through e-mail, almost no South Koreans still believe in a "peaceful
reunification," and they're expecting the worst. Even the left-wing
president Moon Jae-in approved a huge weapons development budget
increase in January.
South Korea has for decades been exposed to North Korea’s large and
diverse arsenal of tactical and intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
So I've been doing some research on South Korea's ballistic missile
defenses.
The most controversial component of South Korea's missile defense
system is the Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD), supplied by
the United States military. THAAD is designed to shoot down ballistic
missiles on their terminal trajectory as they plunge down to their
targets.
The Chinese were and are furious over the installation of The THAAD
system -- not because it protects South Korea from North Korean
missiles, but because it includes "over the horizon" radar that would
provide early warning to the American military of a missile attack
from China. Nonetheless, even Moon Jae-in, having initially refused
further THAAD deployments, finally approved them after North Korea's
spectacular ballistic missile tests in 2017.
However, the THAAD system is deployed too far south to protect Seoul,
and anyway it can't protect against low-altitude missiles that the
North would use on Seoul. THAAD can protect urban areas in the
southern part of South Korea, and could also defend US troops landing
and disembarking from the port of Busan in the southeast.
This brings us back to the KM-SAM Cheongung medium-range
surface-to-air missile system and its new PIP missile interceptor,
manufactured by LIG Nex1 and other South Korean firms.
THAAD can protect the south, while KM-SAM can protect Seoul
in the north.
There's actually a 3-layer ballistic missile defense system,
consisting of THAAD, KM-SAM, and also Patriot anti-missile defense
systems. There's also additional support from an Aegis anti-missile
system when an equipped US warship is in the area.
THAAD and KM-SAM work together to create an anti-missile defense
network. While THAAD defends against high-altitude ballistic
missiles, KM-SAM can defend against low-altitude aircraft and missile
attacks. The American-made Patriot anti-missile systems also provide
a tactical layer of defense.
That's the plan, anyway, but as we know, no plan survives the first
battle. There's no way to test this three-level system except with
computer modeling. When barrages of North Korean missiles start
flying over the DMZ, then we'll finally know how well all of this
worked.
--- Sources:
-- North Korea 'preparing rocket launch', images suggest ::wla
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47504723
(BBC)
North Korea's "charm offensive" seems clearly over. The news this
morning is that satellite images of increased activity around the
Sanumdong missile assembly site suggest that North Korea is preparing
to launch a missile or satellite. This follows reports last week that
the Sohae Launch Facility, used for testing long-range ballistic
missiles, is being rebuilt.
The failed Hanoi summit may have been the last straw for Kim. He may
have decided that if he can't use a "charm offensive" to trick the
Americans to agree to remove the sanctions with nothing in return --
using the same kinds of tricks that always worked for his father -- he
may as well resume testing.
As far as I can tell from correspondence with people in this forum and
through e-mail, almost no South Koreans still believe in a "peaceful
reunification," and they're expecting the worst. Even the left-wing
president Moon Jae-in approved a huge weapons development budget
increase in January.
South Korea has for decades been exposed to North Korea’s large and
diverse arsenal of tactical and intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
So I've been doing some research on South Korea's ballistic missile
defenses.
The most controversial component of South Korea's missile defense
system is the Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD), supplied by
the United States military. THAAD is designed to shoot down ballistic
missiles on their terminal trajectory as they plunge down to their
targets.
The Chinese were and are furious over the installation of The THAAD
system -- not because it protects South Korea from North Korean
missiles, but because it includes "over the horizon" radar that would
provide early warning to the American military of a missile attack
from China. Nonetheless, even Moon Jae-in, having initially refused
further THAAD deployments, finally approved them after North Korea's
spectacular ballistic missile tests in 2017.
However, the THAAD system is deployed too far south to protect Seoul,
and anyway it can't protect against low-altitude missiles that the
North would use on Seoul. THAAD can protect urban areas in the
southern part of South Korea, and could also defend US troops landing
and disembarking from the port of Busan in the southeast.
This brings us back to the KM-SAM Cheongung medium-range
surface-to-air missile system and its new PIP missile interceptor,
manufactured by LIG Nex1 and other South Korean firms.
THAAD can protect the south, while KM-SAM can protect Seoul
in the north.
There's actually a 3-layer ballistic missile defense system,
consisting of THAAD, KM-SAM, and also Patriot anti-missile defense
systems. There's also additional support from an Aegis anti-missile
system when an equipped US warship is in the area.
THAAD and KM-SAM work together to create an anti-missile defense
network. While THAAD defends against high-altitude ballistic
missiles, KM-SAM can defend against low-altitude aircraft and missile
attacks. The American-made Patriot anti-missile systems also provide
a tactical layer of defense.
That's the plan, anyway, but as we know, no plan survives the first
battle. There's no way to test this three-level system except with
computer modeling. When barrages of North Korean missiles start
flying over the DMZ, then we'll finally know how well all of this
worked.
--- Sources:
-- North Korea 'preparing rocket launch', images suggest ::wla
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47504723
(BBC)
