An Israeli-developed missile detection radar system called Green Pine is a leading candidate in South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) for the country's independent low-tier missile shield, The Korea Times reported Monday.
"The DAPA concluded negotiations with foreign bidders over the selection of the early-warning radar systems last week and believes the Israeli radar is the most suitable for the country's theater missile shield in terms of price and capabilities," an unnamed source was quoted by the paper as saying.
The Jerusalem Post could not independently confirm the Korea Times report.
If bought, the Green Pine system would become operational in South Korea by 2012. Two sets are scheduled to be bought by 2010.
Competing with Israel's Green Pine system are the US-made X-Band radar and the French M3R radar.
The purchase of the Forward-Based X-Band Radar-Transportable (FBX-T) was impossible due to US law that forbids the export of the state-of-the-art weapons system, while the French radar system failed to meet some operational requirements, the paper quoted sources as saying.
The US allowed one X-Band system to arrive in Israel's Nevatim IAF base in September 2008 and the IDF uses intelligence collected from it. But it is operated by American personnel and can potentially also give the US knowledge of Israeli air traffic, whether civilian or military.
The Green Pine system was developed by the Israeli company Elta, and in the IDF, it is used to guide the Arrow 2 Missile Defense system.
Topic: Israeli radar may track North Korean missiles (Read 477 times)