Another Victory for South Korea in the International Arms Exports Market

Saudi Arabia yesterday confirmed that it is going to procure the KM-SAM Block II Medium Range Air Defense System from South Korea worth $3.2 billion to beef up its air defense capabilities in the wake of rapidly growing threat of missile attacks from Houthi rebels in the Middle East region. The decision, however, comes as a shot in the arm for the South Korean defense industry which has just scored another key global win as part of its underlying objective of making deeper inroads in the global arms exports market as the West grapples with production capacity constraints amid a rapidly surging demand. South Korea had earlier also won another deal from Saudi Arabia to supply it with the K-239 Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers and Raybolt man-portable anti-tank missiles. The South Koreans had earlier also won a big-ticket defense deal from Poland for over 1,000 K-2 Black Panther Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) with Norway also reportedly considering the K-2 alongside the Leopard 2A7 MBT. Earlier in July 2023, South Korea's Hanwha had won a key defense deal from Australia for the Redback IFVs under the Land 400 Phase-3 for replacing the Australian Army's ageing, in-service M113 APCs. The Redback defeated the Rheinmetall's KF-41 Lynx in a head-on contest. Around 129 Redbacks are going to be produced locally in Australia by Hanwha in a deal worth USD 3.4 to USD 4.7 Billion. South Korea, thus, is rapidly emerging as a key player in the global arms exports market with strong technical capabilities and a huge industrial capacity especially at a time when the West is grappling with serious limitations on overall defense & ammunition production capacity...