| Submit your comments on this article |
| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Nork Infrared Missiles Threaten S.Korean Fighters |
| 2011-04-08 |
| South Korean fighter jets and helicopters are easy targets for North Korea's medium-range infrared missiles, a discovery that has apparently prompted the military to look for solutions. According to the Board of Audit and Inspection, an audit between March 2 to April 30 of last year showed that all of South Korea's airborne weapons systems, including its 500 F-15K fighter jets, transport airplanes and helicopters, are vulnerable to North Korea's newest medium-range infrared missiles. The BAI submitted a report of its findings to the Defense Ministry in December. North Korea has SA-18 Igla shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles and AA-11 Archer short-range air-to-air missiles that use 3-5 ㎛ medium-range infrared waves and are not diverted by short-range flares launched by South Korean aircraft but continue tracking the heat signatures of the fighter planes. The South decided back in 2009 to develop medium-range infrared flares by 2016 to deal with the North Korean missiles. But the development has been brought forward to 2014 following the discovery of the latest threat. But even if the development goes as planned, South Korean aircraft will remain vulnerable for at least the next four years. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #7 SA-18 uses 2 color detectors Doncha just love Rantburg U! |
| Posted by: SteveS 2011-04-08 23:45 |
| #6 SA-18 uses 2 color detectors (1-2 and 3-5μm), so flares not only need to be very bright but also match the relative spectral power of a target (jet exhaust) at those wavelengths. Basically, it's about finding 2 or more flare colors (in infrared) that can be combined to mimic the jet exhaust spectra. |
| Posted by: Zebulon Thranter9685 2011-04-08 14:03 |
| #5 Hasn't this been news since like the 1980s? |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2011-04-08 11:48 |
| #4 So this could be mitigated by just changing the IR signature of the flares? |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-04-08 10:06 |
| #3 Overblown threat. F-15s fly too high for manpads and MiG-21s w/ IR missiles aren't too menacing, even if the North could get some off the ground. Helicopters are much more vulnerable, but again these are very short ranged missiles. |
| Posted by: Zebulon Thranter9685 2011-04-08 01:29 |
| #2 Also from WAFF > CELESTIAL DRAGON HAS [premptively]SUCCESSFULLY DEFEATED THE US F-22, WHIHC IS WHY THE F-22 IS BEING MOVED TO GUAM [from Okinawa]? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-04-08 00:56 |
| #1 ION KORYE, WAFF >KOREA: UNEXPECTED RE-UNIFICATION BY WAY OF VOLCANIC ERUPTION. Volcano Diplomacy??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-04-08 00:54 |