S Korea Develops New Counter-Battery Radar to Defend Against N Korean Artillery

South Korea has developed a mobile counter-battery radar for detecting North Korean artillery aimed at Seoul, the country's defense procurement agency said Monday.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — The new system has been in the making since 2011 and cost some $50 million to develop, according to the statement.

"During last trials in April the system has carried out all the tasks set by the armed forces and has been recognized as fit for combat missions," the agency said on its website.

Commissioning with the South Korean army is expected next year, the statement said. It has been designed to help South Korean forces eliminate North Korean long-range artillery aimed at Seoul.

South Korean forces are currently equipped with Swedish-made ARTHUR produced by Saab. The indigenous rival exceeds ARTHUR's range and other parameters by up to 40 percent, according to the procurement body.

Seoul sits within some 30 miles from the North Korean border and the Korean Demilitarized Zone. North Korea has previously threatened to strike its southern neighbor's capital amid recurrent bouts of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. In the latest escalation earlier in April, Pyongyang said it would strike the presidential residence in Seoul in case of US aggression after reports said US President Donald Trump might order a strike against Pyongyang in case of yet another North Korean nuclear test.

The situation on the Korean peninsula has been tense with North Korea testing ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, while the United States decided to deploy a Terminal-High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile system to South Korea despite protests from neighboring China and Russia.