The ROK Navy has added some new capabilities:
Six P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol planes Twere inaugurated into South Korea’s navy Thursday in hopes of better detecting sea-based threats in and around the Korean Peninsula. The twin-engine aircraft, delivered in June 2024, began flying for the South Korean navy Thursday, the service said in a news release the same day.
South Korean pilots, crew members and mechanics familiarized themselves with the aircraft for a year before reporting to the fleet for operations, according to the navy. South Korea’s military purchased six Poseidons from the United States for roughly $1.6 billion in 2018. The aircraft is meant to replace the South Korean navy’s aging fleet of P-3 Orions, which have been in service since 1995.
You can read more at the link.
Here is a very rare form of defection, crossing the DMZ to get to South Korea:
A North Korean man was taken into custody by the South Korean military Thursday after crossing the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas, according to the South’s Ministry of National Defense. The unidentified North Korean crossed the Military Demarcation Line — the actual border that divides the peninsula — Thursday evening, the ministry said in a text message to reporters Friday morning.
The message did not specify his motive for crossing. The North Korean was first spotted in a shallow stream in the midwestern part of the border early Thursday using South Korean surveillance equipment, the ministry said in a separate message Friday, citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff. South Korea’s military deployed troops to the area and guided the man, who identified himself as a civilian, out of the Demilitarized Zone, the message said. The operation took about 20 hours after the North Korean was first detected, the message added.
You can read more at the link.
This is a sign that attack helicopters as we know them are going obsolete:
The government’s plan to purchase 36 additional AH-64 Apache attack helicopters will likely be scrapped after a massive budget cut, a lawmaker noted Sunday.
According to Rep. Yoo Yong-won of the main opposition People Power Party and the defense ministry, the budget for the project was cut from an initial 10 billion won (US$7.3 million) to just 300 million won in the supplementary budget passed by the National Assembly on Friday. (…..)
Calling the decision a “positive development,” Yoo noted the U.S. Army is also moving away from the aged, high-maintenance Apaches in favor of advanced drone assets like the Gray Eagle to modernize its forces.
You can read more at the link.
Happy Birthday to the gold old U.S. of A today!
