By Lee Tae-hoon
South Korea has sealed a deal to procure GBU-28 bunker-busting bombs, one of the world’s largest and deadliest laser-guided weapons, from the United States, multiple sources said Wednesday.
A National Assembly official confirmed that Seoul and Washington concluded a contract last month for the acquisition of some 150 GBU-28s, initially developed in 1991 to penetrate hardened Iraqi command centers located deep underground.
He said Seoul purchased them through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program for 71.6 billion won ($63.5 million).
The United States will supply all of them in 2013, making the South the second country to be allowed to acquire the bunker buster, following Israel which reportedly purchased 100 GBU-28s under a secret deal to counter Iran’s nuclear facilities, according to a senior official of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).
The official noted that Washington strictly restricts the export of GBU-28s as they are classified as high-end strategic weapons, but agreed to their sales to Seoul in June 2009, following North Korea’s second nuclear test in May that year.
“DAPA first attempted to acquire them (in 2002) as an offset for the FX-I program, through which Korea purchased 40 F-15K fighters from the American aerospace company Boeing, but to no avail,” he said.
The Israelis first requested the bunker busters in 2005, only to be rebuffed by the U.S. government.
In the event of war, the official said, the F-15K fighters will carry the massive bombs to destroy North Korean missiles and fighter jets stored underground, as well as shelters for North Korean military leaders.
“The deployment of GBU-28s will significantly improve the country’s deterrence against North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction,” the official said.
The GBU-28 is a 2,268 kilograms (5,000 pound) bomb that can be carried by the F-15 fighter jet. The 7.6 meter-long bunker buster has been proven to penetrate more than 6 meters of concrete and 30 meters of earth before exploding. It contains a 4,400 pound warhead.
The GBU-28 is thought to be the ideal weapon to destroy the North’s artillery hidden in caves and tunnels along the heavily fortified border and elements of its nuclear program suspected to be hidden underground.
North Korea is believed to have the world’s largest artillery force.
The front of the bomb contains a guidance system. Once ground forces or aircraft pinpoint a target with a laser, the bunker buster’s laser-guided control system tracks the beam and fixes on the target.
The GBU-28 does not have a rocket or motor propulsion system, but falls at high speed due to its heavy weight and slim dart-like shape.
