Posted on 10/15/2015 5:03:55 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Yonhap) -- A newly developed airborne missile by European missile manufacturer MBDA will provide South Korea with "air superiority" over North Korea and other powerful neighbors if they are loaded onto the F-35 combat fighters to be delivered to the country in the coming years, the firm's official said Tuesday.
Under a deal signed last year, South Korea will bring in 40 F-35A jet fighters, the fifth-generation platform with stealth capacities from Lockheed Martin, from 2018 to 2021 to better guard against North Korean threats.
The F-35A fleet will initially be equipped with the U.S.' AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), but through software integration, the jet fighters could gain compatibility with MBDA's new missile Meteor, export sales executive Leo Alfano said in a press roundtable in Seoul.
The most notable of Meteor's functions is its superior no-escape zone, or operation range, which is about three times larger than that of the U.S. AMRAAM, Alfano said.
With Meteor's expanded range, three combat jets equipped with the missiles could cover the entire length of the inter-Korean land border, which is more cost effective despite the higher per-unit price of the Meteor, according to the MBDA official.
Asked how many combat jets are needed to perform the same job with AMRAAM missiles, he said about a dozen will be needed.
The introduction of the Meteor will provide South Korea with "air superiority" over the advancing air power of North Korea and other neighbors like China and Russia, he noted.
With funding from Britain, MBDA has developed the technology to integrate the European missile to the U.S.-made F-35 and if South Korea chooses to adopt it, MBDA will provide the integration technology, he said.
The Meteor is a strategic weapon developed under a six-nation joint program involving Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Sweden, to equip their fleets of Eurofighter Typhoons and F-35s.
pbr@yna.co.kr
Doesn’t S Kore already have air superiority. Or did the Norks suddenly develop a superb air force?
Just read up on the Meteor.
Range 100-300km
Speed...mach 4 +
Wow. We have anything close to these stats? Don’t think so.
Yeah, I typed that in my post, then erased it.
F-14 & Phoenix. Lethal.
Not sure about the Phoenix but we may be up against the F-14 in the future flown by Iran.
The US Air Force and Navy will only engage if Obama orders them to. They are not willing to have their survival be subject to Obama's whims. The SK's own air force is 100% under their own control, which is more comforting.
We should squire some until we get an improved version of our own.
We should also build more F-22s.
Yes, yes they do.
SK has 60 F-15Ks, 117 F-16Cs (+50 F-16Ds), 68 F-4Ds, and 151 F-5Es. They also have an AWACS.
NK has ~35 MiG-29s, which have very questionable electronics. They also have a about 300 older MiGs; 17s, 19s, 21s, and 23s.
Any NK vs SK air battle would be very short, and very one sided.
The headline says N Korea. I’m certain the the South already has air superiority over the North.
Did you read beyond the headline?
How would I know the headline is misleading if I didnt read the article? S Korea already has air superiority over the Norks so the title is misleading. Do you disagree?
On that, we agree.
Lots more.
In actual combat use by the US, three Phoenix were fired in anger against fighters. Of the three, two immediately fell to the earth once they were released y the plane. Fell straight down like they were dumb bombs, with their motors not even firing. The third fired it's motor, but missed the target wide.
The Iranians claimed better success at least against the Iraqi airforce , but it's hard to verify their claims. For the US, it was 0 out of 3, with 2 of those not even firing.
The thing to remember about the Phoenix is what it was built for ...killing bombers before they got within their cruise missile engagement envelope. Now, the Meteor on the other hand is a very modern (decades younger than the Phoenix) missile, with far more sophisticated innards, better motor (that is air breathing), FAR better maneuverability, and with a probability of kill that is magnitudes greater than that of the Phoenix. It is, quite literally, the best air to air missile today.
We need some.
In general the use of the AIM-54 was hampered more by positive ID criteria and an unwillingness to upgrade weapons systems to meet those criteria. If the Air Force writes the PID criteria then you better keep up with the equipment requirements or you don't get to play. The Tomcat community had an issue in being abundant with attitude and lacking in perspective. I can say that because I was in the community. It could be very frustrating.
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