S.Korea Must Bolster Its Defense Against N.Korean Artillery

[driedapples]

The South Korean military's firefinder radar systems to respond to surprise attacks by North Korean long-range artillery are not only lacking in terms of number, but are prone to breakdowns.

North Korea has deployed 340 long-range artillery pieces including 170 mm self-propelled howitzers and 240 mm multiple rocket launchers along the western frontline near the demilitarized zone, and the weapons are aimed directly at Seoul and other metropolitan areas. But out of the 20 anti-artillery radar systems the military has, six Arthur radars imported from Sweden broke down 78 times last year, while the U.S.-made TPQ-36 and 37 malfunctioned 98 and 60 times over the past five years. Experts say at least 10 more radars are needed in order to put up an effective defense.

North Korea's long-range artillery has ranges of between 54 km and 65 km and is capable of hitting Seoul, Incheon and even further south. The 240 mm multiple rocket launchers can even fire chemical warheads. That is what North Korea is talking about when it threatens to turn Seoul into a "sea of fire."

The military keeps track of North Korean long-range artillery positions using surveillance drones and spy satellites. In the event of a full-blown war where the North uses all of its long-range artillery pieces at once, the South would seek to disable those positions by mobilizing some 40 F-15K and 130 KF-16 fighter jets that will fire precision-guided missiles.

But the problem is when North Korea attacks Seoul using a few long-range artillery rounds in sporadic attacks. In that case, the South needs to wait until the North fires the rounds and backtrack the trajectory of the projectile to locate the source. That is where the anti-artillery radar comes in.

When there are so many malfunctions and there are not enough radars, the military will not be able to deal effectively with artillery attacks. The U.S.-made radars apparently break down often because they are outdated, while the Swedish ones malfunction due to overuse since there are not enough of them. If one or two long-range artillery shells land on Seoul, the fire could spread to gas and fuel pipelines, engulfing the city. Seoul must act immediately to bolster its anti-artillery radar systems and put up a viable, 24-hour defense to avoid a nightmare scenario.

 

[Bonza]

The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea - S.Korea Must Bolster Its Defense Against N.Korean Artillery

Please do not repost any more articles in full. It's not right to not give credit to the author and publication, and in addition to that we expect posters to add their own personal comments to the discussion, not simply copy and paste articles. Thankyou.

 

[driedapples]

thanks

yes, right. this is the article from chosun ilbo. it was quite intresting for me. because they are fighting until now and it will be keep going further.

 

[fenkl]

The South Korean military's firefinder radar systems to respond to surprise attacks by North Korean long-range artillery are not only lacking in terms of number, but are prone to breakdowns.

North Korea has deployed 340 long-range artillery pieces including 170 mm self-propelled howitzers and 240 mm multiple rocket launchers along the western frontline near the demilitarized zone, and the weapons are aimed directly at Seoul and other metropolitan areas. But out of the 20 anti-artillery radar systems the military has, six Arthur radars imported from Sweden broke down 78 times last year, while the U.S.-made TPQ-36 and 37 malfunctioned 98 and 60 times over the past five years. Experts say at least 10 more radars are needed in order to put up an effective defense.

North Korea's long-range artillery has ranges of between 54 km and 65 km and is capable of hitting Seoul, Incheon and even further south. The 240 mm multiple rocket launchers can even fire chemical warheads. That is what North Korea is talking about when it threatens to turn Seoul into a "sea of fire."

The military keeps track of North Korean long-range artillery positions using surveillance drones and spy satellites. In the event of a full-blown war where the North uses all of its long-range artillery pieces at once, the South would seek to disable those positions by mobilizing some 40 F-15K and 130 KF-16 fighter jets that will fire precision-guided missiles.

But the problem is when North Korea attacks Seoul using a few long-range artillery rounds in sporadic attacks. In that case, the South needs to wait until the North fires the rounds and backtrack the trajectory of the projectile to locate the source. That is where the anti-artillery radar comes in.

When there are so many malfunctions and there are not enough radars, the military will not be able to deal effectively with artillery attacks. The U.S.-made radars apparently break down often because they are outdated, while the Swedish ones malfunction due to overuse since there are not enough of them. If one or two long-range artillery shells land on Seoul, the fire could spread to gas and fuel pipelines, engulfing the city. Seoul must act immediately to bolster its anti-artillery radar systems and put up a viable, 24-hour defense to avoid a nightmare scenario.

well it is waste of resources deploying stationary radars to watch for a couple of artilleries which are not stationary. i would think of mobile radar systems near the borders and when the alarm gets on, one can switch on the reserve radars around big cities and important installations.

 

[legoboy]

I always thought South Korean's technology was far far superior than North Korean's o_o.

Whenever I read/watch the news North Korea is depicted as having a Soviet Era army with MiG-21's and old Soviet guns. Unless this is just western propaganda and North Korea is actually quite a fearsome force.

 

[Armoredpriapism]

South Korea could really use a shell that was semi-autonomous with a tank-seeking war head. If it linked counter battery radar data into a pool of targets to be sent out to individual artillery guns, each gun could fire one round per target and defeat the artillery sites with artillery fairly quickly. The shell would have to have a seeker warhead like the (BLU-108 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) BLU 108.
A few years ago I saw a program called future weapons which showed the test of a shell that could guide itself. I don't know how that turned out but South Korea could surely use some.

 

[Belesari]

No their military is that bad. But if you have one modern infantry squad with assualt rifles, and all the tricks and the enemy has weapons straight out of the 1940's but there are around 500 of them? You still are probably going to die.

The rpg and ak-47 are from the 50-60 and are still one of the most used and cost effective weapons when used in mass.

Unless it goes nuclear RoK would win. They have one heck of a well trained and powerful military. However they couldnt save the cities within reach of the Nork guns and artillery. The reason North korea is still a problem is because Seoul is basicly a hostage.

Add to that the fact that the Norks have alot of cheap little subs that can really hurt shipping and ports and the fact that china doesnt want another US allie directly on its boarder.....................

Then there is the fact that after all is said and done the end of the conflict would result in one of the greatest humanitarian missions in history. Litterly the entire Nork population would need to be deradicalized and the entire country rebuilt.

I always thought South Korean's technology was far far superior than North Korean's o_o.

Whenever I read/watch the news North Korea is depicted as having a Soviet Era army with MiG-21's and old Soviet guns. Unless this is just western propaganda and North Korea is actually quite a fearsome force.

 

[Armoredpriapism]

No their military is that bad. But if you have one modern infantry squad with assualt rifles, and all the tricks and the enemy has weapons straight out of the 1940's but there are around 500 of them? You still are probably going to die.

Is the ratio really 10 to 500? From what I've read the war would consist of South Korea having to absorb the initial siege and spec ops while air power destorys North Korea's logistics. When might the North Koreans use their nukes? If they just nuked Seoul right off the bat there wouldn't be much more they could do right? Or do you think they'd try to sneak it on a submarine and float over to the nearest carrier group? Or just have that sub sit in the carrier's path before the war starts.

 

[My2Cents]

Is the ratio really 10 to 500? From what I've read the war would consist of South Korea having to absorb the initial siege and spec ops while air power destorys North Korea's logistics.

Both sides have very substantial border defenses. The South Korean defenses that can probably be overcome fast enough to prevent reinforcement only if North Korea achieves complete surprise, which is increasingly unlikely.

Air power is more likely to be focused on the North Korean artillery positions around Seoul. Logistics will only become a factor for North Korea after a war of movement is established, and even then they will probably be falling back on previously established, well concealed, and probably deep underground supply depots, leaving little for the Air Forces to hit.

When might the North Koreans use their nukes? If they just nuked Seoul right off the bat there wouldn't be much more they could do right? Or do you think they'd try to sneak it on a submarine and float over to the nearest carrier group? Or just have that sub sit in the carrier's path before the war starts.

NK subs have been doing pretty well lately because they are sticking to shallow water where anti-submarine systems work poorly. Any carrier will be in deep water, and an attacking NK sub will probably be detected the first time it has to snort. Besides, nothing would be more likely to bring the wrath of the USA down on them than nuking an American carrier.

The primary use of NK nukes would be as a threat:

• As nuclear landmines advancing SK + allied troops to prevent a counterattack.
• Against Japan in an attempt to force them to become neutral and block the use of US bases on the islands and transshipment of men and supplies to SK.
• Against China, which is likely to invade at the first sign the NK offense is failing in order to prevent NK from being overrun in a SK counterattack.

 

[legoboy]

Both sides have very substantial border defenses. The South Korean defenses that can probably be overcome fast enough to prevent reinforcement only if North Korea achieves complete surprise, which is increasingly unlikely.

Air power is more likely to be focused on the North Korean artillery positions around Seoul. Logistics will only become a factor for North Korea after a war of movement is established, and even then they will probably be falling back on previously established, well concealed, and probably deep underground supply depots, leaving little for the Air Forces to hit.

NK subs have been doing pretty well lately because they are sticking to shallow water where anti-submarine systems work poorly. Any carrier will be in deep water, and an attacking NK sub will probably be detected the first time it has to snort. Besides, nothing would be more likely to bring the wrath of the USA down on them than nuking an American carrier.

The primary use of NK nukes would be as a threat:

• As nuclear landmines advancing SK + allied troops to prevent a counterattack.
• Against Japan in an attempt to force them to become neutral and block the use of US bases on the islands and transshipment of men and supplies to SK.
• Against China, which is likely to invade at the first sign the NK offense is failing in order to prevent NK from being overrun in a SK counterattack.

Doesn't North Korea want China to enter when their losing ?
It will be like the Korean War. Why does North Korea have to stop China from stopping the South ?

 

[Armoredpriapism]

Doesn't North Korea want China to enter when their losing ?
It will be like the Korean War. Why does North Korea have to stop China from stopping the South ?

I've read other threads on this site about it and the general (non-expert) concensous was that China knows the North would lose a war and wouldn't try to save it. It wouldn't be politically good for them and would certainly risk a wider war with PACOM. There were some pretty interesting ideas on what exactly China would do, but it it did anything, imo, it would do what the Soviets did to North Korea at the end of world war two and "help" the US and South Korea to invade the North, and keep the land it gains as a buffer zone.
The Nuclear landmine is a scary prospect. What would the South do? If there are natural corridors between where the most North Korean resistance would likely be and Pyonyang, does the US have enough napalm to completely light them ablaze? If the command establishment were killed and the most dangerous part of the army cut off and seemingly surrounded, might the army crumble or surrender to psy ops?
I realize burning down all that forest would have environmental hazards but the prospect of nukes being used or centuries of burried landmines seems worse.

 

[My2Cents]

Doesn't North Korea want China to enter when their losing ?
It will be like the Korean War. Why does North Korea have to stop China from stopping the South ?

The North Koreans will not want to allow China in UNLESS they agree to prop up the existing regime, which is not likely. Even China is out of patience with the Kim's, they just support North Korea because they don't want SK+USA on their border.

If North Korea is losing the Chinese will need to move quick to occupy as much of North Korea as possible before the SK and allies can in order to establish a post war negotiation position similar to Russia in Germany after WWII. China would also need to provide the SK with a scapegoat to blame for the conflict, to assuage public anger – the Kim’s and other regime leaders should do nicely. Needless to say, the North Korea regime in power will not willingly fall on the sword for the convenience of China, but once the Chinese are occupying the country there is not much they can do to stop the Chinese from doing whatever they want, unless the North Korea regime can make a deal in advance. Nukes would provide the leverage to make that deal happen.

Remember, in North Korea it is never about the people of North Korea, it is about keeping the Kim’s and their cronies rich and in power.