S. Korea decides to purchase more SM-2 ship-to-air missiles

SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea decided Friday to purchase dozens of additional U.S.-made ship-to-air missiles to be placed on three new 7,600-ton Aegis-equipped destroyers currently under development, Seoul's arms procurement agency said.

The defense project promotion committee approved the plan to introduce the Standard Missile-2 systems from 2023, through a foreign military sale (FMS) program with the U.S. government, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said.

The fifth such procurement plan reportedly costs around 340 billion won (US$304 million).

The committee also picked a South Korean defense firm, Hanwha Corp., as the preferred bidder for a research project to develop rockets for the 230mm Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher. It is known to cost around 42 billion won.

sshluck@yna.co.kr
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