LOC19:23
16:23 GMT
TOKYO, Oct 21 (KUNA) -- South Korea will deploy a low-altitude radar system late this year to guard the country against low-elevation military penetrations such as North Korean drones, the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported Tuesday.
Starting at the end of this year, the military will deploy three-dimension low-altitude radars, developed by a local defense firm, for actual combat position, defense officials said. These local radars are specialized in detecting and tracking aircraft flying at low altitudes as well as unmanned drones within a 200-kilometer range, according to the military.
The detection system will also be equipped with the ability to issue early warnings of enemy penetrations.
With the upcoming radar deployment), "our military will be able to upgrade its radar detection capacity by one more level," Choi Sung-hee, branch head of the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality, was quoted as saying. Earlier in the day, the agency held a meeting with officials from the military procurement agency and other military officials to introduce the newly developed low-altitude radars.
South Korea has been seeking to counter North Korea's dispatch of spy drones across the border after a number of North Korean drones were found on South Korean soil in recent months.
Three small unmanned aerial vehicles were found crashed in South Korea in March and April, with officials concluding that they were sent from the North for spying missions. The wreckage of one more similar drone, suspected of belonging to the North, was located in September, further raising security concerns. (end)
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