Artillery Interception System:
South Korea has approved plans to develop an artillery interception system, similar to Israel’s Iron Dome.
- This new defence system will be designed and built specifically to thwart attacks by rockets and long-range missiles launched by North Korea.
- The South Korean government had announced in June that it would be spending approximately $2.5 billion on research and development of this new system, with a target to deploy it by 2035.
- North Korea deploys around 1,000 artillery pieces along the Military Demarcation Line that divides the Korean Peninsula.
- There are operational differences between the two systems as well, with the most significant being that South Korea’s system will be designed to intercept long-range artillery pieces.
- But more importantly, South Korea and Israel face different security threats that require different responses.
- While Israel contends with Hamas, which is primarily a militant group, South Korea had to contend with North Korea, a nation with its own extensive military capabilities.
