Text Fwd: U.S. To Equip Third South Korean Warship With Interceptor Missiles

* Text informed by Rick Rozoff on Jan. 8, 2011

Global Security Newswire
January 7, 2011
South Korea Orders Third Aegis System


U.S. defense firm Lockheed Martin has received a new contract to outfit another South Korean warship with Aegis missile defense technology, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 2, 2009).

The $40.6 million contract would pay for South Korea's third Aegis Weapon System. The destroyer is expected to be sea ready in February; it would be commissioned in summer 2012, followed by two years of testing.

"We fully expected this and have been working together with the U.S. Navy and the Republic of Korea to make this happen," Lockheed official Doug Wilhelm said.

Aegis-equipped warships can provide defenses against missile and aircraft attacks while enabling warships to simultaneously strike against land, surface water and submerged targets, according to Lockheed.

Aegis systems have been deployed on 95 vessels in the Australian, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanish, South Korean and U.S. navies, the Business Journal reported (Peter Key, Philadelphia Business Journal, Jan. 6).