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The Korean military will put into use from this year locally developed leading-edge electronic countermeasures equipment that can protect its jetfighters from enemy surface-to-air missile (SAM) or anti-aircraft gun attacks.
A Defense Ministry official said Sunday that the Agency for Defense Development had succeeded in developing the ALQ-X, a state-of-the-art airborne electronic warfare system that helps fighter aircraft to defend against attacks from enemy SAMs or interceptors.
The equipment is an electronic warfare system that immediately detects whether enemy missiles or radar have a track on friendly aircraft, and then emits high-powered electronic waves to interfere with enemy radar or missile locks, rendering the weapons useless. The equipment can be externally mounted under the fuselage of the KF-16 or F-4 fighters that form the core of the Korean Air Force.
The equipment possesses much greater jamming capabilities than the Korean-produced ALQ-88K that is currently used by the Air Force. Spending billion of won on development, the Agency for Defense Development began work on the project in 2000. Test evaluations conducted late last year were successful. In particular, at a lower price than similar U.S. or European systems and with outstanding jamming capabilities, the Defense Ministry said it has applied for a core technology patent and expecting to export the system abroad in the future.
(Yoo Yong-won, bemil@chosun.com )
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