Artillery Detection Radar Failure Rate Increasingly Severe

The Army is reported to receive six units of the new counter-battery radar (WLR) called 'ARTHUR'.

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] It has been revealed that counter-battery radars detecting North Korean artillery shells break down about once a week. As North Korea accelerates missile development for preemptive strikes, there are calls for urgent replacement of the counter-battery radars.

According to the military on the 5th, the Army is currently operating the TPQ-37 counter-battery radar and the ARTHUR-K counter-battery radar. A counter-battery radar is equipment that detects and analyzes the ballistic trajectories of various shells fired by the enemy using radar to accurately determine the point of origin. The TPQ-37 was introduced after North Korea’s "Seoul will be a sea of fire" statement in 1994, amid rising threats from long-range artillery, and in 2009, six ARTHUR-K counter-battery radars from Sweden’s Saab were additionally procured.

However, malfunctions of the counter-battery radars have been increasing every year. The TPQ-37 experienced 51 breakdowns in 2017, 57 in 2018, 61 in 2019, and 46 last year. The ARTHUR-K radar saw 55 breakdowns in 2017, 66 in 2018, 88 in 2019, and 83 last year. This means the TPQ-37 breaks down about once every 7 days, and the ARTHUR-K about once every 4 days. The military has a plan to focus deployment of the domestically produced Counter-Battery Radar-II to Army corps artillery units by next year through a contract with LIG Nex1, but until then, concerns over capability gaps are unavoidable.

A military official said, "Although the number of malfunctions is increasing due to aging radar equipment, we have introduced a Performance-Based Logistics (PBL) system where the manufacturer directly repairs the equipment, enabling quick response."

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