South Korea will embark on a 347.7 billion-won ($271.4 million) project Thursday to locally develop a minesweeping helicopter by 2026 for enhanced naval operations, the state arms procurement agency said.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration is set to sign a contract with Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd., the country's sole aircraft maker, to begin the project aimed at bolstering the Navy's countermine capabilities and protecting maritime shipping lanes.

Once developed, an unspecified number of the choppers will be deployed to a minesweeping helicopter battalion that the Navy seeks to create by 2030.

"(Through the project) the Navy will be able to conduct swift, multidimensional anti-mine operations," a DAPA official was quoted as saying in a press release.

"(We) expect it to become a major weapons system able to protect our country's major ports and sea lines of communication given that 99 percent of South Korea's imports and exports are transported through maritime trade." (Yonhap)