South Korea has performed an emergency airlift of surface-to-air missiles missiles from the Cheongung-II air defence system to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), because the nation’s air defences have confronted unprecedented challenges from Iranian missile and drone strikes from February 28. The airlift was performed utilizing a Republic of Korea Air Pressure C-17 strategic transport, after roughly 30 interceptor missiles had been drawn instantly from South Korea’s personal operational reserves, highlighting the urgency of sustaining the layered missile-defence community defending UAE territory. That is vital not solely to sustaining the defence of strategic and navy targets within the United Arab Emirates, but additionally to sustaining the U.S. Armed Forces’ and French Armed Forces means to proceed to wage conflict on Iran utilizing navy bases within the nation, most notably Al Dhafra Air Base.
The significance of the Cheongung-II system, in any other case often known as the KM-SAM, has grown because the UAE’s U.S.-supplied THAAD and MIM-104 Patriot anti-ballistic missile methods has been assessed to be operating extraordinarily wanting surface-to-air interceptors, whereas the system’s sole radar, the AN/TPY-2, has been destroyed by Iranian strikes. Iran started to launch missile and drone assaults on targets within the United Arab Emirates after the nation’s territory was utilized by america as a staging floor to assault Iran, as a part of a marketing campaign which killed the nation’s supreme chief and had devastated each civilian and navy targets throughout the nation. The Cheongung-II makes use of each indigenous and Russian applied sciences, and was developed with in depth help from the Russian companies Almaz-Antey and Fakel based mostly on their expertise with the S-400 and S-350 methods.
The United Arab Emirates agreed to obtain ten Cheongung-II medium-range surface-to-air missile batteries beneath a landmark US$3.5 billion contract signed in 2022, with Abu Dhabi having lately requested fast replenishment of interceptor missiles after shares had been closely depleted when repelling Iranian strikes. South Korea’s compliance with the request is anticipated to each strengthen its strategic companions, and in addition place it in a stronger place to market the Cheongung-II overseas in future to realize additional contracts. It’s notable that South Korea is the one nation that is ready to supply excessive performing NATO-compatible air defences on such brief discover, with European states’ personal methods having very restricted capabilities, whereas U.S. methods have seen stockpiles severely depleted primarily as a result of operations within the Center East, but additionally as a result of massive scale donations to Ukraine in previous years.
The dispatching of interceptors from the Cheongung-II system to the United Arab Emirates has occurred as america has itself withdrawn MIM-104 Patriot air defence methods from the nation, whereas contemplating making withdrawals of THAAD methods or their interceptors as effectively, thus doubtlessly compromising native defences. The Cheongung-II has been valued on worldwide markets for permitting Western-aligned shoppers to amass superior Russian air and missile defence applied sciences with out risking being focused by Western political or financial strain, together with threats of sanctions which america has made in opposition to shoppers that purchase excessive worth Russian air defence methods instantly. Russia started to make in depth transfers of defence applied sciences to South Korea after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, whereas concurrently reducing off North Korea and Iran from arms provides as a part of its geopolitical reorientation in direction of the Western world within the Nineties and 2000s. Though relations between Moscow and Seoul deteriorated from 2022, South Korea has taken a much less hardline place over the Russian-Ukrainian Battle than Japan or Western Bloc states, leaving potential for additional joint weapons applications and expertise transfers in future.
