South Korea Buys 90 Taurus Bunker-busting Missiles

South Korean Defence Procurement Agency has signed a contract to purchase 90 more Taurus long-range air-launched bunker busting missiles.

"The contract was signed in late February," Kang Hwan-seok, spokesman for the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), told reporters, Yonhap news reported.

Made by Germany-based Taurus Systems GmbH, the missile has a range of 500 kilometers. If launched from the South’s F-15 fighter jets, it can destroy the North’s fortified facilities, including hideouts of its leaders.

South Korea had ordered 170 Taurus precision-guided missiles, known as bunker-buster missiles in 2013.

The decision to buy the additional missiles had been made last year amidst heightened tension over the Pyongyang’s nuclear tests and missile launches. However, since then tensions have eased and there is now a possibility of direct talks with North Korea and the US.

The missiles are meant to add teeth to Seoul’s ‘kill chain’ of  pre-emptive strikes against the North’s key facilities.