By This announcement means that the ROK Army is going to have an even greater firepower advantage compared to the North Koreans:
South Korea plans to streamline its army by cutting the number of divisions while increasing its artillery over the next decade or so, an official said Monday.
The plan, subject to presidential approval, is part of new policy guidelines for reform that the defense ministry is pushing to implement by 2020, the official said, asking anonymity.
About 10 trillion won (US$7.8 billion) will be spent on introducing 1,000 K-9 self-propelled guns, while the number of army divisions will likely be reduced by half or more, the official said.
The number of troops will stay above 500,000, the official noted. The current size stands at 655,000. [Yonhap]
ROK Drop readers may remember that the K-9 was deployed on the islands along South Korea’s maritime border with North Korea as a deterrent to a possible North Korean provocation along the NLL. So far this deterrent has been very effective. I actually have experience with the K-9 Thunder and they are quite impressive and even better than the US M109 Paladins. These are the biggest guns the ROK Army has against North Korea and they are about to get a thousand more.
Here is video of the K-9 in action:
8:07 am on June 22nd, 2009 1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K9_Thunder
It has a range of up to 40km.
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1:06 pm on June 22nd, 2009 2
[...] regarding South Korea’s attitude towards the north’s nuclear program. GI Korea also notes a very large self-propelled howitzer purchase by South Korea as the country starts its latest military modernization program. No Comments so [...]
1:09 pm on June 22nd, 2009 3
And today’s Clueless Statement of the Year award goes to… (shuffles with sealed envelope)… the guy who said,
“This announcement means that the ROK Army is going to have an even greater firepower advantage compared to the North Koreans”
Yes, let’s give a big round of applause for those who don’t realize how many artillery shells are required to equal one old-fashioned 1940s style nuke.
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June 22nd, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Nk does not have a weaponized nuclear “bomb”, “artillery shell”, “ICBM”, “missle”. (the ‘fact’ that they can create a true nuclear explosion is even in question) So I would imagine one shell in the 5.56mm range or less, would be the equivalent of anything in NKs inventory.
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4:53 pm on June 22nd, 2009 4
It is good to hear about the artillery upgrade, but there is a certain quality to mass. I think it is a mistake to reduce the Army divisions drastically, those nork units will attempt to exploit seams which is a lot easier when your opponent has a lot less units to block you. Those Chonmahos may be a joke in a straight gunfight with a K1, K1a1 or M1a1, but they will be a terror if they get into the rear area.
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