Text Fwd: Seoul may form attack chopper unit

2009.08.03
By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldm.com)

South Korea may be moving forward with plans to form a separate unit of attack helicopters over the next four years for defense reinforcement purposes, military sources said yesterday.

The absence of two U.S. Apache attack helicopter battalions are seen to have accelerated the move.

Further exacerbating the concerns are predictions that the sole remaining battalion of 24 choppers may depart following the 2012 transfer of wartime operational control.

The Defense Ministry, however, said upgrading the current choppers would come first.

"Our priority lies in upgrading our choppers as they are outdated. We may not actually be seeing the formation of a new division of such choppers," said Col. Lee Bung-woo of the ministry's public relations office.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration is in the midst of a feasibility study for indigenously developing helicopters. It is slated to announce the results by late next year.

Another viable plan is to purchase second-hand Apaches from the United States.

Amid concerns of the defense vacuum, the United States Forces Korea is to deploy a dozen F-15E fighter jets here to replace an equal number of F-16s.

"This would most likely be a move to assure South Korea," one military source said.

Washington will station the dozen F-15E Striking Eagle jets at the Gunsan Air Base by Aug. 20 to replace the 12 F-16 Fighting Falcon jets at the Suwon Air Base, sources said.

The deployment is part of a rotation and will last for six months, including a staff of 400 to support the move.

Washington's decision to pull out a second battalion of attack choppers earlier this year had many worried about the weakened defense posture.

Top defense experts are now predicting that the United States may decide to withdraw the remaining 24 Apaches to reinforce its anti-terrorism efforts in the Middle East.

The Apache choppers constitute a powerful combat deterrent as they are designed for anti-armor purposes, meaning their main mission is deterring North Korea's armored division.

The United States afterwards deployed a dozen F-16s, a multirole fighter jet, in the place of the Apaches amid criticism and concerns.

This is because the F-16s, despite thier capacity for conducting varied missions and precision strikes, are void of anti-armor features.

The F-15Es, meanwhile, are said to have superior all-weather ground attack capabilities compared with the F-16s and a greater operational range.

The jets also carry a wide range of munitions including anti-armor and precision guided bombs.

But experts said the distinction was not too significant, as they both are unable to sufficiently replace the Apaches.

The USFK maintains that the multirole jets would adequately fill the gap left by the Apaches.

* Realted
Yonhap News
2009/08/03 16:19 KST
U.S. says no plan to withdraw Apaches in foreseeable future
By Sam Kim