Seoul to Deploy Bunker-Busting Bomb by 2012

[tigershark]

Seoul to Deploy Bunker-Busting Bomb by 2012
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

A state defense institute is pushing to develop an indigenous guided bomb to be carried by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a report said Sunday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the state-funded Agency for Defense Development (ADD) aims to develop the precision-strike bomb, which could be used in destroying enemy caves, by 2012.

The UAV guided by the global positioning system (GPS) would carry several types of bombs, such as MK-82/83 bombs, GBU-12/16 Paveway laser-guided bombs and CBU-16/58/97 cluster bombs, it said.

``The bombs from the UAV could hit the enemy's strategic targets precisely with the help of their wings and precision-guidance systems,'' an ADD official was quoted as saying. ``Ordinary bombs that our military are currently using could be installed on the UAV after modification.''

The agency is also reportedly developing a high-speed, high-velocity bunker-busting bomb similar to the AGM142 ``Have Nap'' missiles, which were used by the U.S. Air Force to destroy cave complexes of terrorist groups in Afghanistan. The missile is guided by remote control into the mouths of caves sheltering terrorists.

Other key weapons systems that the ADD is developing include an electronic gun and a vertical-launch guided anti-submarine missile.

When the ship-based missile approaches a target, a torpedo detaches from the missile frame and drops into the water retarded by a parachute. The torpedo then would detect the target and hit it.

The agency is also developing an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and high-power microwave (HMP) weapons with the aim of completing the development by 2015.

EMP and HMP bombs offer a significant capability against electronic equipment susceptible to damage by transient power surges.

For example, an EMP attack, generated by a very short, intense energy pulse or high-altitude nuclear blast, is known to be capable of crippling an enemy's command-and-control and communications systems, and anti-aircraft radar systems.

Also known as the ``E-bomb,'' the HPM is designed to zap electronics, scramble computer programs and fry communications links. This type of electromagnetic pulse weapon is a warhead that, when explodes, emits a high-energy pulse that will fuse electrical equipment within a given range. E-bombs can unleash in a flash as much electrical power, two billion watts or more, equal to the electricity the Hoover Dam generates over 24 hours.

Source
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/01/116_38059.html