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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| S. Korea to Buy $325 Million Worth of Arms from U.S. |
| 2012-06-07 |
| The military will procure about 360 weapons from the U.S. capable of destroying up to 40 tanks each. The U.S. Defense Department notified Congress last Friday of the South Korean government's recent request for a US$325 million deal involving sensor fused weapons (SFW), missiles and other equipment and relevant services, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a press release Tuesday. The package includes 367 CBU-105D/B wind-corrected munition dispenser SFWs, 28 captive air training missiles, and seven dummy air training missiles. The most important part in the package is the CBU-105D/B wind-corrected munition dispenser SFW. It consists of BLU-108 SFWs, each of them with a payload of four Skeet warheads with a passive infrared array and active laser sensor allowing it to detect a heat source such as the engine of a vehicle or tank and hit the target. Each CBU-105D/B has 10 BLU-108 sub-munitions. This means each CBU-105D/B is capable of destroying a maximum of 40 tanks or armored and ordinary vehicles. The F-15K, the South Korean Air Force's fighter jet, can carry up to 15 CBU-105D/Bs. "The procurement of CBU-105D/Bs will contribute significantly to incapacitating the North's mechanized units, where we're numerically inferior," a military source said. "We're going to arm F-15Ks and KF-16s as well as the Korean-made light fighter FA-50s with CBU-105D/Bs." The CBU-105D/B proved its formidable power when it was used in Afghanistan and Iraq. Seoul also asked Washington last month for a separate $1 billion deal including eight Seahawk helicopters and 18 Harpoon missiles, according to the U.S. Defense Department. |
| Posted by:Steve White |