South Korea Develops New Artillery Detection Radar To Counter North

South Korea has developed new mobile artillery locating radar system to counter North’s threats.

The new counter-artillery detection radar-II worth approximately 54 billion won (US$47.7 million) will be operational starting in 2018, Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said in a statement.

"In recent tests it met all of the required operational capabilities of the military. It has been assessed to be fit for combat use," DAPA was quoted by Yonhap Monday.

The new radar can find the location of the enemy's artillery forces more than 60 kilometers further away than around 40km by the ARTHUR-K, DAPA said.

"With the successful development of the counter-battery radar, our military has laid the groundwork for destroying the origin of the enemy's provocations, if carried out, in the early stage of combat, through immediate counter-fire," Army Col. Kim Dong-ho, a senior DAPA official, said.

The North has a vast array of artillery deployed near the inter-Korean border that can reach Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi Province which have a population of roughly 20 million.