Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Korean-made "Block-Ⅰ" has first live fire... hits a target 40km away

Patriot, Mistral, Vulkan tear down virtual enemy in the air

On November 2nd, at Boryeong's armed shooting range in Chungnam, where the sky is overcast, the ground-to-air guided missile called "Block-Ⅰ," standing in eight straight vertical tubes about 5m high, was waiting for a virtual enemy. While everyone held their breath, an introductory broadcast called out: "○○ artillery, battle engage!" The missile, which sprang a few meters vertically from the launching station, then sparked a second fire, roaring and spewing smoke while soaring at Mach 4.5 (about 5500 km / h). Soon there was the sound of cheering and applause throughout the shooting range, and the notice was given that 'we shot down the target at about 40 km.' This was the moment at which the Air Force succeeded in the first strike after the deployment of "Block-Ⅰ," under the watchful eyes of the many guests from inside and outside the military, including the Air Force Chief of Staff Lee Wang Keun.

The Air Force Air Defense Artillery Command (hereinafter referred to as Air Defense Artillery Command) was holding the '2017 Air Defense Artillery Shooting Contest' on that day, and demonstrated its capability and willingness to defend Korea's airspace as well as its ability to attack with actually firing demonstrations of Block-Ⅰ, Patriot, Mistral, and Balkan. At the contest, about 300 delegates from 10 units of Air Defense Artillery Command participated in the demonstration, showing their skill by shooting 100% of the unmanned target aircraft that represented the enemy penetrating from a distance.

First, the Patriot missiles shot down a virtual enemy plane at a height of 2 km, followed by Mistral Valkan tearing down a low-altitude airplane in air. Finally, Block-Ⅰ succeeded in both of its performances and showed its master craftsmanship. Chief Lee visited all of the mission personnel who had successfully completed all the shooting, shaking their hands and encouraging them.

The Air Defense Artillery Shooting Contest is the annual Air-to-Ground Surveillance Contest that improves the combat power of Air Defense Artillery Command against enemy threats that infiltrate the airspace. Some of the troops participating in the contest engaged in training to move and deploy all of the launching equipment such as launcher, control station, and radar to the Daechon shooting range, which is 200 km away from the garrison, to improve the overall tactical ability.

"We have confirmed our ability to strike the enemy aircraft precisely through a live fire exercise," said Major Lee Seung-jun, the artillery commander of the Air Defense Artillery Command unit 8930 after successfully carrying out the Block-Ⅰ live fire exercise. "I will do my best to maintain a steady air defense preparedness so that the people will be able to work safely and carry on with their lives in the event of an enemy provocation," he emphasized.

Block-Ⅰ is the latest air defense guided weapon system developed domestically by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and the government. With this system, a missile launched from a vertical launcher can be ignited in the air, fly to shoot down targets through a cold launch method and engage enemies in all directions 360 degrees without moving the launcher.

By Sang-Yun, Kim < ksy0609@dema.mil.kr >

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