The military said on the 3rd it finalized a plan to purchase the ship-based ballistic missile interceptor (SM-3 interceptor missile), which can block North Korea's ballistic missiles at high altitude. It will also push in earnest a plan to accelerate the early fielding of the prototype of the long-range artillery interceptor system (LAMD), known as the Korea-style Iron Dome, by moving it up two years.
The government convened the 174th Defense Project Promotion Committee meeting and decided to introduce the SM-3 interceptor missile through a foreign military sales (FMS) government-to-government contract. The government decided to bring in dozens from the United States and will invest a total of 753 billion won from this year through 2031. The SM-3 interceptor missile is slated to be mounted on the Jeongjo the Great-class EGIS destroyer.
The interception altitude of the SM-3 interceptor missile is 90–500 km. It is designed to intercept during the midcourse phase of a ballistic missile's flight. The interception altitude of the SM-6 interceptor missile, which has been cleared to be mounted on the Jeongjo the Great-class EGIS destroyer, is 36 km or lower and covers the terminal phase. If the destroyer is also equipped with the SM-3 interceptor missile, it will have a system capable of intercepting enemy missiles in both the midcourse and terminal phases.
On the same day, the committee also approved a revision to the Basic Strategy for Project Promotion and the Basic Plan for System Development to field the LAMD prototype. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration earlier decided to move up the LAMD fielding timeline by two years from 2031 to 2029 by fielding a prototype in response to North Korea's reinforcement of multiple rocket launchers in 2024, and the specific plan for that has now been finalized.
The total cost of the LAMD fielding project is 842 billion won. The period runs through 2030, and the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) is currently developing it. LAMD is an air-defense weapon system that operates at short range and low altitude and can specialize in defending against North Korea's long-range artillery that flies in swarms simultaneously. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration and ADD had said they would develop LAMD into a weapon system with higher performance than Israel's Iron Dome.
In addition, the committee approved a revision to the basic strategy for promoting the project to replace the allied maritime tactical data link for sharing tactical information in combined maritime operations, shifting from Link-11 to Link-22. Link-22 is an enhanced version over Link-11 in transmission speed and capacity, range, and anti-jamming performance, and the total project cost is expected to be 592 billion won.