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Sun, September 24, 2023 | 03:06
-------------------------
Korea asks US to sell cluster bombs
1발로 北전차 40대 초토화... 최신폭탄 도입
Posted : 2012-06-08 18:03
Updated : 2012-06-08 18:03
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CBU 105 cluster bomb

By Lee Tae-hoon

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), an arm of the U.S. Department of Defense, has asked the U.S. Congress to approve Seoul’s request to buy 367 advanced cluster bombs.

“The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress June 1 of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of the Republic of Korea for 367 CBU-105D/B Wind Corrected Munition Dispenser (WCMD) Sensor Fused Weapons and associated parts, equipment, logistical support and training for an estimated cost of $325 million,” according to a notification issued on the DSCA’s website.

The Korea Times broke the news on Dec. 14, 2011 that the South Korean Air Force plans to acquire CBU-105s this year, one of the most lethal and advanced cluster bombs, citing multiple sources.

The paper reported that the government set aside 236 billion won ($205 million) for the procurement of some 350 CBU-105s from the United States to boost the country’s deterrence against North Korea’s tanks and armored vehicles.

It did not specify the exact number of the advanced weapons at that time in order to protect the source.

The DSCA says in its notification that the South intends to use CBU-105s to “modernize its armed forces and enhance its capability to defeat a wide range of enemy defenses including fortifications, armored vehicles, and maritime threats.”

The U.S. defense agency points out that the munitions’ precision and low failure rate will reduce incidents of fratricide and increase overall effectiveness.

The CBU-105 is a 420-kilogram anti-armor cluster bomb that disperses 40 “ice-hockey puck-shaped” heat-seeking bomblets, or "skeets” above targets. The skeet’s infrared targeting system detects and locks onto heat signatures emitted by the engine of an armored vehicle.

According to a South Korean defense official, the new cluster bombs are capable of self-destruction 15 meters above the ground to prevent possible civilian causalities in the event that it fails to find a target.

The South has CBU-87 and MK20 Rockeye cluster bombs, but the use of them has been regarded as unethical as they are seen as weapons of mass destruction due to a high failure rate.

If cluster bombs don’t explode, they become anti-personnel landmines that can cause civilian causalities.

“Employment of the CBU-105D/B Sensor Fuzed Weapon will not result in more than 1 percent unexploded ordnance across the range of intended operational environments,” DSCA claimed.

The dud rate of conventional cluster bombs is believed to be more than five percent.

The National Assembly approved 2.7 billion won last year, a down payment to seal a deal with the Pentagon for the acquisition of the precision cluster-bombs.

A senior official at the parliamentary defense committee said the country’s arms procurement agency will try to lower the price through negotiations with the United States.

1발로 北전차 40대 초토화... 최신폭탄 도입
미 국방부산하 국방안전협력국은 미의회에 한국의 367기에 달하는 클러스터 폭탄 구매 요청을 승인해 줄 것을 요청했다. 국방안전협력국 홈페이지에 따르면 “국방안전협력국은 지난 1일 총 3억2천500만달러(약 3천840억원) 규모의 방향수정 정밀유도확산탄(CBU-105D/B WCMD SFW) 367기와 부품, 장비, 훈련, 정비, 수송 장비를 한국에 판매할 것을 의회에 통보했다. 420kg에 달하는 방향수정 정밀유도확산탄은 적외선 장치를 가지고 있고 레이저 센서로 전차나 차량 엔진과 같은 열원을 찾아내 공격하는 아이스하키 퍽처럼 생긴 40개의 열 추적 스키트 탄두를 탑재하고 있다. 이들 40개 탄두는 각자 목표물을 찾아 북한 전차 40대를 한꺼번에 파괴시킬 수 있다. 작년 12월 14일 코리아타임스는 다수의 소식통을 인용 한국 공군이 2012년에 가장 치명적이고 최신 무기인 방향수정 정밀유도확산탄을 구매할 계획이라고 보도했었다. 코리아타임스는 당시 정부가 북한 탱크와 전차에 대한 저지 능력을 향상시키기 위해 총 2억500만달러를 들여 미국으로부터 방향수정 정밀유도확산탄 350기를 구매할 것이라고 보도했었다.
Emailleeth@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
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