Friday, October 20, 2017

Will This System Protect Seoul From North Korea's Artillery?

Raytheon's SkyHunter, based on the Israeli Iron Dome program, could greatly boost protection of U.S. forces and allies against short-range threats such as artillery rounds and rockets.

Loren Thompson, Forbes: Raytheon May Have A Quick Fix For Seoul's Vulnerability To North Korean Attack

One of the most vexing challenges U.S. military planners face in figuring out what to do about the growing nuclear threat posed by North Korea is the vulnerability of South Korea's capital to non-nuclear retaliation. Seoul is a mere 35 miles from the demilitarized zone separating the two countries, putting it within range of North Korean artillery and short-range rockets. The North has deployed thousands of guns and rocket launchers along the border, in effect holding 25 million South Koreans -- half the country's population -- hostage.

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WNU Editor: Loren Thompson paints a very optimistic picture on the effectiveness of this system .... one that I have trouble believing. If a few artillery rounds are fired at Seoul .... this system may have success. But I do not think that North Korea .... if it starts firing artillery shells at Seoul .... would just fire a few rounds. They would unload everything they have, and by the time these defense systems start operating .... the city of Seoul would already be in chaos and on fire, and what would be intercepted would not make a difference in the end.

Update: Solving the Siege of Seoul (Mark Mackie, RCD).

Update #2: The South Koreans believe have their own version on what is needed to stop North Korea's artillery .... South Korean Army confident of destroying N. Korea with ballistic missiles at war (Yonhap News).

1 comment:

fazman said...

https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-special-reports/mind-the-gap-between-rhetoric-and-reality/