Air Force in-house programmers to set up second line of missile defense


The Air Force will independently upgrade core software for its guided missile system against North Korea in efforts to save money and prevent a possible technology leak, the state arms acquisition agency said Monday.

It and Seoul’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration have been in talks with the U.S. government over the software upgrade, for which Washington offered a price of some 15 billion won ($13.3 million), officials said.

The Air Force has sought to enhance the key software of its Master Control Report Center at its central air base in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, to beef up its missile system designed to intercept North Korea’s ballistic missiles.

The software is needed to establish an Integrated Command and Control system at the MCRC, which would be used to intercept North Korean ballistic missiles, should a first attempt using Patriot Advanced Capability-2 missiles fail.

For the second interception attempt, the Air Force would use medium-altitude hawk missiles.

“The Air Force has reached a conclusion that it can upgrade the software with its own technology accumulated through the project to enhance the MCRC system,” said a DAPA official, declining to be named.

“The upgrade cost is expected to be some 2.1 billion won, about 14 percent of the 15 billion won the U.S. suggested.”

He also noted that as the Air Force takes over the job, there will not be any concerns over the possible technology leak.

“Should we commission the U.S. side to upgrade the software, we have to hand over the core MCRC equipment to them, which apparently causes concerns over the technology leak. But we removed such a possibility,” he said. “We also expect the amount of time projected for the upgrade to decrease by some nine months as well.”

The longest-range North Korean ballistic missile, deployed since 2007, is the Musudan missile with a range of 3,000-4,000 kilometers. In theory, it could reach Guam, the key U.S. strategic base in the Asia-Pacific region.

South Korea has indigenous Hyunmoo-I and II missiles with a range of 180-300 kilometers and U.S.-made ATACMS missiles with a range of 165-300 kilometers.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)