The South Korean Protection Mission Promotion Committee additionally gave the inexperienced gentle to a 3.3 trillion-won plan to buy heavy assault helicopters from overseas from 2023-28, in keeping with the South Korean Protection Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). South Korea’s information company Yonhap reported that Seoul has sought to purchase extra Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian assault helicopters amid its push to counter evolving army threats from North Korea. The brand new fleet of superior assault helicopters would play a vital position in countering doable North Korean amphibious infiltrations into western border islands and different doable assaults. In Goampo, Hwanghae Province, the North has constructed a unit to accommodate some 60 hovercrafts whose infiltrations operations may very well be countered by the assault helicopters.
Because the AH-64E Apache Guardian is massive in dimension and geared up with many high-tech weapons programs, the sustainment price is anticipated to be larger, in contrast with the 500MD and AH-1S assault helicopters South Korea at present runs. On April 2013, South Korea introduced plans to purchase 36 Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian assault helicopters. The primary 4 AH-64Es had been delivered in Might 2016, and all 36 had been deployed by January 2017. In September 2022, South Korea authorised a 400 billion-won (US$295 million) plan Friday to improve the Military’s AH-64E Apache Guardian assault helicopters. The Protection Mission Promotion Committee endorsed the fundamental plan to purchase tactical information hyperlinks and fireplace management radar programs from the US from 2023-2027 to reinforce the choppers’ fight capabilities.
Commercial
South Korea additionally authorised a 5.75 trillion-won (US$4.3 billion) plan Monday to start mass manufacturing of a homegrown gentle armed helicopter (LAH) within the coming months. The Protection Mission Promotion Committee endorsed the LAH manufacturing plan to run by 2031 as a part of efforts to interchange the army’s getting old fleet of 500MD and AH-1S Cobra assault helicopters, in keeping with the DAPA. DAPA is anticipated to signal an LAH cope with Korea Aerospace Industries Co., the nation’s sole plane maker, later this 12 months, with mass manufacturing more likely to start early subsequent 12 months, a DAPA official stated on situation of anonymity. The primary batch of the chopper is anticipated to be deployed in late 2024. South Korea is the world’s seventh nation to have domestically developed an armed helicopter.
