Radar Technology Led by Defense Small and Medium Enterprises

Far East Telecom Challenges KPS Ground Station Following Next-Generation Medium Satellite
Possesses Core Technology of Cheolmae II Radar, Our Military's First Interceptor Missile

Maritime Surveillance Radar-II produced with domestic antenna technology.

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Humanity took inspiration from bats using ultrasound and its echoes to navigate in the dark and began developing radar. The name "RADAR" comes from the first letters of the phrase radio detecting and ranging. Christian H?lsmeyer of Germany, noting the similar properties of radio waves and light, developed a wireless echo device usable for navigation and obtained a patent in 1904. Since then, radar performance rapidly advanced, and domestic defense companies succeeded in localization. To observe domestic radar technology, we visited Geukdong Communication located in Nonsan City, Chungnam Province, on the 26th.

Passing through a quiet village in Bujeok-myeon, Nonsan City, we entered a small forest and saw the Geukdong Communication headquarters. The area around the headquarters was essentially flat plains except for some farmland. Upon entering the headquarters, the only thing that caught the eye was a 20-meter-high antenna tower. A company official said, "For testing radio waves, there must be no tall buildings or mountains that interfere with radio waves nearby," adding, "There was a reason to establish the factory here."

Following the company official’s guidance, we entered the first floor of the headquarters, where various antennas were displayed, ranging from 10-meter-long antennas to dish-shaped antennas. Radar requires antennas. Antennas are classified by function into detection, tracking, communication, and satellite antennas, and by structure into planar antennas equipped with transceiver electronic devices, dish-shaped reflector antennas without such devices, and rod-shaped antennas. Planar antennas can change the direction of radio waves without rotating the antenna and are mounted on fighter jets and missiles.

Antennas are distinguished by functions such as detection, tracking, and communication
Antenna performance varies depending on the core component, the module
Localization of KPS ground stations will reduce costs

Going up to the third-floor production line, it was filled with young employees. They were so focused on their work at their desks that they barely noticed visitors. Antennas are made based on ferrite, a type of magnetic rod. Employees plated ferrite rods about the size of a pen and wound coils around them to direct radio waves. All work was done manually. Each ferrite had a unique code number attached for traceability.

Using ferrite, X-Band antennas operating on military frequencies were produced. Sixteen ferrite pieces completed one module. The first interceptor missile used by our military, Cheolmae II (Cheongung), also has radar to track enemy missiles, with 464 modules inserted into its antenna. Ferrite used for the higher frequency Ka-band antennas was only about 10% the size of the ferrite used in X-Band antennas, resembling a pen refill.

Geukdong Communication also produced the antenna for the next-generation medium-sized satellite No. 1, launched in March last year. This satellite provides images from an orbit at an altitude of 497.8 km. The images have a resolution of 0.5 m in black and white and 2 m in color, and antenna performance is essential for accurate transmission.

With evolving domestic antenna technology, the company plans to challenge the Korean Positioning System (KPS) project. KPS, also called the "Korean GPS project," is a government initiative investing a total of 3.7234 trillion won by 2035. Currently, Korea uses the US GPS, which has an error margin of about 10 meters domestically. Once KPS is developed, the error margin will be reduced to centimeter-level, about 1/100th, enabling precise distance measurement. To install KPS, ten ground stations each domestically and overseas must be established, with at least two antennas per station. The company explains that domestic antennas are essential for cost reduction and future maintenance.

Geukdong Communication CEO Lee Seung-ho said, "Antennas that were previously fully imported from overseas are now being localized," adding, "We plan to take on challenges including satellites and the Korean Positioning System (KPS) project."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.