What air defense systems can the Republic of Korea transfer to Ukraine?
After President V.V. Putin’s visit to Pyongyang in June 2024, a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement was concluded between Russia and the DPRK, which, among other things, provided for mutual military assistance.
In Seoul they reacted quite sharply to this. Back in April 2024, it became known about the intention of the leadership of the Republic of Korea to allocate $2,3 billion to Kyiv as part of medium- and long-term assistance. But if in the past Seoul refrained from directly transferring lethal weapons to the Ukrainian Armed Forces weapons and ammunition, the result of the Russian leader’s visit to Pyongyang was that the volume of military assistance to Ukraine will be increased and will depend on the degree of development of relations between Russia and the DPRK.
South Korean law prohibits the supply of lethal weapons to combat zones, but this ban may be lifted, something the Republic of Korea is being pushed to do by a number of NATO countries. In addition, the option of reverse deliveries is not ruled out, when, for example, Warsaw transfers artillery installations and shells to Kyiv, and Seoul compensates the Poles for the volumes of weapons and ammunition transferred. Of particular interest to the Ukrainian Armed Forces are the Soviet-made equipment and weapons at the disposal of the army of the Republic of Korea and the South Korean air defense systems.
Anti-aircraft machine gun and artillery installations
Until the late 1990s, as a means Defense American quadruple 12,7mm M45 Maxson Mount anti-aircraft machine guns were used by infantry battalions, after which they were largely replaced by more modern anti-aircraft machine guns and portable anti-aircraft guns. missile complexes and sent to warehouses.
However, there is information that a certain number of 12,7-mm ZPUs are still in the army. The American-made quad mounts are located in stationary, well-fortified positions near the demilitarized zone and are designed to repel infantry where there are no conditions for armored vehicles to advance. Large-caliber quad machine guns are still very effective against manpower and lightly armored targets. During the Second World War and the Korean War, the M45 ZPU received the unofficial nickname “meat grinder”.
Quad 12,7mm M45 Maxson Mount
The M45 Maxson Mount anti-aircraft gun was adopted by the US Army in 1943. Weight in combat position is 1 kg. Firing range at air targets is about 087 m. Rate of fire is 1 rounds per minute.
At the firing position, to give the installation greater stability, there are special supports at the corners of the trailer that fix the launcher in the firing position. The trailer also contains batteries and a charger for them. Guidance is carried out using electric drives. The electric motors of the guidance drives are very powerful and can withstand heavy loads. Thanks to electric drives, the installation has a pointing speed of up to 60 degrees/sec.
To increase mobility and reduce the time of transfer to a combat position, quadruple 12,7-mm anti-aircraft launchers can be installed on army off-road trucks.
Although production of 12,7mm quad anti-aircraft guns ceased in the 1950s, the active use of unmanned aerial vehicles has revived interest in such air defense systems, and they can be quite effective against low-flying UAVs.
At the end of the 1970s, there was a qualitative strengthening of the North Korean military aviation, and the response to this was the adoption by the South Korean army of American 20-mm towed 20-mm M167 mounts and M163 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns based on the M113 armored personnel carrier.
The M167 ZU and M163 ZSU use the same 20-mm artillery unit with an electric drive, created on the basis of the M61 Vulcan aircraft gun, capable of firing at a rate of fire of 1 and 000 rounds/min. The effective firing range against fast-moving air targets reaches 3 m.
Towed 20-mm anti-aircraft gun M167
Towed installations are intended for air defense of stationary objects and places where troops gather; self-propelled installations are used to escort motorized rifle and tank units.
To gain the skills to repel attacks by infantry and armored vehicles, crews of towed M167s and self-propelled M163s often train in shooting at ground targets.
Self-propelled 20-mm anti-aircraft gun M163
Towed and self-propelled 20-mm installations include a radar with a parabolic antenna, coupled with an analog computer, which makes it possible to quite accurately determine the distance to the target and its speed. An optical sight with manual data input was used as a spare. When a towed gun mount is placed in position, it is powered from an external power source.
The AN/TPS-167 radar is designed to provide target designation to anti-aircraft batteries M163 and M50. A station located on a truck chassis and interfaced with “friend or foe” equipment. The target detection range reaches 90 km. However, stations of this type are considered obsolete and are being taken out of service.
At the end of the 1980s, licensed production of six-barreled 20-mm guns with a rotating barrel block was established in the Republic of Korea, which made it possible to create their own improved towed and self-propelled installations KM167A3 and K263A1.
Compared to the original version, the towed South Korean installation, in addition to increasing reliability and service and operational qualities, has electronics with an increased time between failures and is better suited for long-term duty at a firing position.
The production of the 20-mm K263A1 self-propelled gun has been mastered by Daewoo Heavy Industries. The K200 KIFV tracked armored personnel carrier became the basis for the Korean anti-aircraft self-propelled gun. This vehicle had much in common with the American M113 armored personnel carrier and was built in series from 1985 to 2006.
South Korean 20-mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun K263A1
The K263A1 self-propelled gun is armed with an artillery unit and is equipped with sights, which were originally created for the KM167A3 towed anti-aircraft gun. This modification is equipped with an improved radar sight and is quickly transferred from the traveling position to the combat position.
About 10 years ago, South Korean towed and self-propelled 20mm six-barrel mounts were overhauled and modernized. In addition to the radar rangefinder, the sighting equipment includes a television camera with a night channel and a laser rangefinder, developed by LG Innotec.
After modernization, the capabilities of independently searching and firing at air and ground targets in the dark have expanded. The use of a television camera coupled with a laser rangefinder allows firing without turning on the radar channel.
The issuance of target designation for Korean-made self-propelled and towed Vulcan installations is currently assigned to the TPS-830K mobile radars. The station on a heavy truck chassis, operating in the frequency range 8–12,5 GHz, is capable of detecting an air target with an ESR of 2 m², flying at an altitude of 100 m, at a range of up to 40 km.
According to reference data, the air defense units of the South Korean Army have about 1 towed KM000A167 and approximately 3 self-propelled K200A263. In the recent past, plans were announced to completely replace them with 1-mm self-propelled guns, in connection with which 30-mm installations could be exported.
In the 1970s, it became clear that the 40-mm Bofors L60 assault rifles, which fired 120 rounds per minute and did not have a modern fire control system, did not meet modern requirements, after which the South Korean army began to look for a replacement. Anti-aircraft guns with a longer range than the 20 mm Vulcan and faster fire than the 40 mm Bofors were required.
In 1975, the Republic of Korea purchased 36 twin 35-mm Oerlikon GDF-003 anti-aircraft guns from Switzerland.
The towed 35-mm anti-aircraft artillery mount Oerlikon GDF-003 weighs 6 kg in combat position. Sighting range for air targets is up to 700 m, height reach is up to 4 m. Rate of fire is 000 rounds/min. The capacity of the charging boxes is 3 shots.
Towed anti-aircraft 35-mm artillery mounts and Skyguard fire control radar
To control the fire of a battery of four anti-aircraft guns, the Skyguard FC radar is used, which is interfaced with cable lines to each installation. The control station crew consists of two people. A rotating pulse Doppler radar antenna, a radar range finder and a television camera are installed on the roof of the towed van.
It is possible to automatically enter data into the sighting devices of each anti-aircraft gun and automatically aim it at the target without crew participation. In addition to direct control of the anti-aircraft battery, it provides visibility of the airspace at a range of up to 40 km.
In the past, 35 mm installations were permanently located on hills around Seoul. After the modernization program for the South Korean air and missile defense system began to be implemented several years ago, anti-aircraft guns of this type began to be replaced in site air defense by more effective missile systems.
The response to the appearance of Su-25 attack aircraft in the DPRK Air Force was the creation of a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun armed with two 30-mm cannons, work on which began in the mid-1990s. However, the development of the sighting and search system on this ZSU was delayed, and it was put into service under the name K30 Biho in 2007.
The K30 Biho self-propelled gun on the K200 tracked infantry fighting vehicle chassis has a curb weight of 26,5 tons. The diesel engine produces 520 hp. With. provides speeds of up to 65 km/h. Cruising range on the highway is up to 500 km. The crew consists of three people: commander, gunner and driver. Frontal armor protection provides protection against 14,5 mm bullets.
The armament of the anti-aircraft self-propelled gun initially consisted of two 30-mm KKCB guns produced by S&T Dynamic (a licensed version of the 30-mm KCB gun developed by Rheinmetall Air Defense), the total rate of fire of which is 1 rounds/min. The ammunition load contains 200 ready-to-use shots. To combat air targets, high-explosive fragmentation incendiary projectiles with an effective range of up to 600 m are used. Shooting at ground targets is carried out with armor-piercing incendiary projectiles. The turret rotation speed is 3 degrees/sec, the drive is electric (auxiliary - manual). Gun elevation angles range from –000° to +90°.
Detection of air targets, measurement of range, flight speed and guidance of guns is carried out by an aiming and search complex consisting of a surveillance radar, an optoelectronic system, a laser range finder, a thermal imaging sight and a digital fire control system. The radar detection range is up to 20 km. The passive optoelectronic station is capable of seeing an aircraft at a distance of more than 15 km.
In 2013, vehicles began to be additionally equipped with KP-SAM Shin-Gung short-range anti-aircraft missiles. Each SPAAG additionally received two containers, which are equipped with two KP-SAM Shin-Gung missiles manufactured by LIG Nex1.
After launch, a missile with a two-color (IR/UV) seeker operates in “fire and forget” mode. The maximum firing range is 7 km. Ceiling – 3,5 km. After the introduction of self-propelled anti-aircraft missiles into the armament, the range more than doubled and the probability of hitting air targets increased significantly. Currently, the South Korean army has 176 K30 Biho self-propelled guns.
To replace 20-mm Vulcan installations in anti-aircraft units of military air defense and export supplies, Hyundai created an AAGW self-propelled gun based on the Rotem K808 wheeled armored personnel carrier.
The new anti-aircraft gun is armed with 30 mm KKCB cannons. The use of detection radars is not provided and it is intended to make do with passive optoelectronic search and targeting systems. Armor protection in the frontal projection provides resistance to 14,5 mm bullets at a distance of more than 300 m. The side armor must withstand rifle-caliber armor-piercing bullets fired from a distance of 100 m. Diesel engine with a power of 420 hp. With. accelerates a car weighing 18 tons to 100 km/h. Power reserve – up to 700 km. Crew – 3 people.
Man-portable air defense systems
At the end of the 1980s, the South Korean army had about three hundred FIM-43 Redeye MANPADS launchers, which were finally decommissioned in 2016.
In 1986, during an official visit to Seoul by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, an agreement was reached on the acquisition of Javelin MANPADS (English: “Dart”).
Launch of Javelin MANPADS by South Korean crew
However, the Javelin complex is considered “portable” very conditionally and is rather “portable”. With the guidance unit and the missile in the launch tube, it weighs about 25 kg.
A special feature of the “Dart” is a semi-automatic radio command system for guiding an anti-aircraft missile to a target. The operator of this complex does not need to control the rocket using a joystick throughout the flight, as was the case with the previous Blowpipe model, but only needs to keep the target in the crosshairs of the optical sight. The advantage of such a guidance system is its absolute immunity to thermal interference.
The maximum firing range reaches 5 m, the maximum height is 500 m, the minimum is 3 m. The warhead is detonated using a contact or non-contact fuse.
As of 2020, there were up to 250 Javelin systems in storage in the Republic of Korea, and instead of disposal, they could be transferred to a foreign customer.
In 1993, the Americans, as a temporary replacement for the outdated portable FIM-43C Redeye systems, handed over to the South Korean military three dozen used MANPADS launchers and about one and a half hundred FIM-92A Stinger missiles.
Now all FIM-92A Stinger MANPADS have been removed from combat units and are in warehouses.
In 1996, 50 launchers and 700 Igla-1 MANPADS missiles were delivered to the Republic of Korea to repay the Russian debt.
Active use of Russian-made MANPADS in the South Korean army continued until 2018. Currently, all Igla-1 complexes are put into reserve.
Having tested British, American and Russian systems, the leadership of the military department of the Republic of Korea in the second half of the 1990s chose the French-made Mistral MANPADS. According to information published in open sources, more than 2006 anti-aircraft missiles and three hundred launchers were ordered from France until 1.
The Mistral missile defense system is made in a canard aerodynamic configuration, which ensures high maneuverability with high guidance accuracy during the final flight phase. The seeker uses a mosaic-type receiving device made of indium arsenide, which significantly increases the ability to detect and capture targets with a weak IR signature. In combination with cooling the receiving device (a refrigerant cylinder is attached to the trigger mechanism), this increases noise immunity and reduces the likelihood of capturing a false target.
The seeker is capable of capturing and tracking a jet aircraft at a range of up to 7 km, and a helicopter equipped with devices to reduce thermal signature - at a distance of up to 4 km on a collision course. The high-explosive fragmentation warhead of the missile with ready-made submunitions (about 1 tungsten balls) weighs 500 kg and is equipped with contact and laser proximity fuses. Reliable destruction of an air target is guaranteed with a miss of up to 2,95 meter.
It provides shelling of air targets at a range from 500 to 5 m and at altitudes from 300 to 5 m. The average reaction time (from turning on the trigger circuit to the launch of the missile) in the absence of external target designation data is about 3 s and 000 s in the presence of such data.
The transport and launch container and sighting equipment are placed on a metal tripod with a seat for the operator. With the help of appropriate mechanisms, a turn and the necessary elevation angle for firing in almost any direction are ensured.
When transporting the complex, it is divided into two parts, each weighing about 20 kg. Like the British Javelin, the French Mistral is more suited to transport than to carrying.
At the moment, the Mistral complexes have been taken out of service and replaced by nationally produced MANPADS. There are about 250 launchers and approximately 500 M2 missiles in stock.
In 1995, the South Korean company LIG Nex1 began creating its own MANPADS. In 2005, the KP-SAM Shingung short-range anti-aircraft system, developed by the South Korean company LIG Nex1, officially entered service. The initial order was 200 launchers and 2 missiles.
Experts believe that when creating the Shingung complex, technical solutions were borrowed from the Russian Igla-1 MANPADS and the French Mistral.
Like the French complex, the launch tube of the South Korean air defense system is placed on a tripod; the complete set weighs about 16 kg. Although the Shingung was made lighter than the Mistral, almost all Shingung air defense systems available in the South Korean army are designed to be mounted on off-road vehicle chassis and use twin and quad launchers.
Complexes dismantled from vehicles can be deployed on the ground, but it is very difficult to transport them over significant distances using crew forces.
The maximum range for hitting air targets is 7 km, the effective range is 500–5 m. The ceiling is 500 km. The systems used in the South Korean army are standardly equipped with a system for state identification of air targets. For operation at night, the Shingung air defense system can be equipped with a thermal imager; the detection range of a fighter-type target is 3 km.
The creation in the Republic of Korea of its own compact short-range air defense system, Shingung, has become a significant success for the national military-industrial complex. The LIG Nex1 company is trying to promote air defense systems on the global arms market under the name Chiron.
Cheonma mobile air defense system
After the MIM-23В I-Hawk air defense systems were deployed on the territory of the Republic of Korea, the command of the Ground Forces initiated the creation of a mobile complex with a comparable firing range and height reach.
Samsung Electronics began development in the early 1980s, but the task turned out to be much more difficult than initially thought. In the second half of the 1980s, specialists from the development company came to the conclusion that it was impossible to independently create a mobile complex with the given characteristics in a short time. The result of the work of the joint commission, consisting of military-industrial complex experts and high-ranking military personnel, was the decision to reduce the maximum range and ceiling requirements.
To reduce development time and minimize technical risks, it was decided to use the modernized French Crotale air defense system as a prototype for the military air defense system, for which Samsung Electronics and Thomson-CSF established the Samsung Thomson CSF consortium in 1991. In 2001, the joint venture was renamed Samsung Thales. In 2015, Samsung Group sold its stake to Hanwha Group and the name was changed to Hanwha Thales.
13 South Korean contractors, including small and medium-sized enterprises, participated in the development and production of the complex. Although the principle of combat use and the architecture of the South Korean complex are similar to the Crotale-NG air defense system with the R-440 missile defense system, it uses an original anti-aircraft missile created by LIG Nex1.
All elements of the air defense system, known as the K-SAM Cheonma or Pegasus, are placed on a modified chassis of the K200A1 tracked armored personnel carrier. The combat weight of the vehicle is 26 tons. The maximum speed is up to 60 km.
The vehicle has eight ready-to-use solid-fuel missiles in the TPK. The rocket is made according to a normal aerodynamic design - four rudders are located in the rear part of the body. The warhead is high-explosive, directional, equipped with contact and non-contact laser fuses and provides a high probability of hitting air targets. Targeting is radio command. The launch weight of the rocket is 75 kg, length – 2 mm, diameter – 290 mm. The mass of the warhead is 160 kg. The maximum speed of the rocket is up to 12 m/s. Firing range – 800–0,5 km. Height – 9–0,02 km. Maximum overload of missiles is up to 6G. A crew of three reloads ammunition in 35 minutes.
To independently search for air targets, the vehicle has a pulse-Doppler radar with a detection range of up to 20 km. The radar complex can detect and track up to 8 targets simultaneously, including hovering helicopters, and is capable of operating day and night, in difficult weather conditions. In terms of its combat capabilities, Cheonma is close to the Soviet Osa-AKM air defense system, but the South Korean complex is protected by bulletproof armor and cannot float.
Delivery of the first complexes to the troops began in 2000. Until 2012, the South Korean army received 114 combat vehicles.
Currently, all Cheonma mobile air defense systems have undergone modernization, after which the commander and operator now have modern information display monitors at their disposal, communications have been improved, and noise immunity and reliability of radar equipment have been increased.
Object-based air defense systems
South Korean batteries of anti-aircraft missile forces, providing on-site air defense and missile defense, are subordinate to the command of the air force.
Four batteries of Patriot air defense systems of the 35th Air Defense Brigade of the US Army are located on the territory of the Republic of Korea. The deployment of American air defense systems occurred in the mid-1990s, after the DPRK created its own analogue of the Soviet R-1980 operational-tactical missile in the late 17s.
In addition to the American Patriot PAC-3 complexes, which cover the Osan, Kunsan and Suwon air bases, the South Korean Air Force operates eight MIM-104D Patriot PAC-2/GEM batteries purchased in 2007 from Germany. In 2015, the American corporation Raytheon received a contract worth $769,4 million to bring South Korean air defense systems to the PAC-3 level.
A modern medium-range complex is the South Korean Cheolmae-2, also known as KM-SAM. The development of this air defense system began in 2001, it was jointly carried out by the Russian concern VKO Almaz-Antey and the engineering design bureau Fakel in collaboration with the South Korean companies Samsung Techwin, LIG Nex1 and Doosan DST.
The Cheolmae-2 air defense system is conceptually close to the Russian S-350 and consists of a radar, a mobile command post and 4-6 self-propelled launchers on an off-road truck chassis. Each SPU has eight interceptor missiles housed in transport and launch containers.
The mobile multifunctional three-coordinate radar provides simultaneous tracking of dozens of targets and the firing of several of them, as well as the transmission of target information and the necessary commands to the missile immediately before launch and during its flight.
The anti-aircraft missile for the South Korean Cheolmae-2 air defense system was created on the basis of the Russian 9M96 missile defense system developed by the Fakel IKB and is equipped with a combined guidance system: command-inertial in the initial and middle sections of the flight path and active radar in the final.
The missile, 4,61 m long, 0,275 m in diameter and weighing 400 kg, can perform maneuvers with an overload of up to 50 G. The range is up to 40 km, the altitude is up to 20 km.
All elements of the Cheolmae-2 air defense system have been mass-produced in South Korea since 2015. Mass deployment of anti-aircraft systems of this type began in 2017. As of the beginning of 2024, 15 Cheolmae-2 air defense systems may be in service. New Cheolmae-2 air defense systems are deployed in areas bordering North Korea. In the event of an armed conflict with the DPRK, they should become a barrier to the hopelessly outdated, but no less dangerous, North Korean combat aircraft.
It is clear that South Korea most likely will not donate the modernized Patriot PAC-2/GEM air defense systems and the new Cheolmae-2 systems of its own production to Ukraine. However, there are old American MIM-23B I-Hawk air defense systems in reserve.
In the 1980–1990s, more than 30 American and South Korean MIM-23 air defense systems were on combat duty in the south of the Korean Peninsula. South Korean “Advanced Hawk” air defense systems underwent a modernization program in the early 1990s and ensure the destruction of air targets at a range from 1 to 40 km and an altitude from 0,03 to 18 km in a difficult jamming environment. Each battery is connected to a centralized automated air traffic alert system, but is capable of operating autonomously if necessary.
At the end of the 1990s, complexes of this type in the American army were supplanted by the Patriot air defense system, and currently the modernized MIM-23B I-Hawk complexes belonging to the ROK Air Force are deployed in Korea.
At the beginning of the 20st century, there were more than 23 MIM-2020V I-Hawk batteries in stationary positions in South Korea. In 2, eight batteries remained in service covering the secondary southern direction, which were planned to be replaced by the Cheolmae-XNUMX air defense system.
Taking into account the fact that the Ukrainian Armed Forces already have several “Advanced Hawk” air defense systems, the supply of complexes of this type or their individual elements, which have been withdrawn from service in South Korea, seems quite likely.
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