South Korea:  Seoul Contracts for U.S.-Made Missiles

South Korea has agreed to purchase 110 tactical ballistic missiles with a 300-kilometer range from Lockheed Martin, the Korea Times reported today.  The Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS Block 1A, could hit the North Korean capital of Pyongyang as well as other key North Korean cities, according to the Times (see GSN, Nov. 26).

In a 1979 agreement, South Korea was banned from developing missiles with a ranger greater than 180 kilometers, the Korea Times reported.  Last January, however, South Korea worked out an agreement with the United States that included approval of the development of ballistic missiles with a range up to 300 kilometers (Korea Times, Jan. 4).

The $81 million contract calls for Lockheed Martin to provide the missiles by April 2004, according to a press release.  This is Lockheed Martin’s first international sale of the Block 1A version of the ATACMS missile.

The Block 1A is has nearly double the range of the original version, an increase gained primarily by reducing the missile’s payload (Lockheed Martin release, Dec. 4).

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