Seoul: South Korea will advance the deployment of a homegrown interceptor system akin to Israel's Iron Dome by two years to 2029 in a bid to better counter North Korea's long-range artillery threats, the state arms procurement agency said Friday. The country will seek to deploy a prototype of the Low-Altitude Missile Defense (LAMD) system designed to simultaneously intercept incoming artillery rounds by 2029, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the decision was approved at a meeting of a pan-government committee on defense project promotion. The LAMD system, which consists of a radar, tactical communications component, launchers, and interceptors, is designed to intercept simultaneous attacks from North Korea at low altitudes. The government plans to invest 842 billion won (US$558 million) in developing the LAMD system by 2030.

Initially, DAPA aimed to deploy the LAMD system by 2031, but it has decided to bring forward the plan by two years amid growing threats from North Korea's multiple rocket launcher systems. North Korea's long-range artillery system puts Seoul and its surrounding greater areas, where around half of South Korea's 51 million population live, within its range.

The deployment with a LAMD prototype will involve continued overhauls to replace decrepit components in the process. This will help shorten the time needed for the deployment of new weapons, enabling the military to agilely tackle security threats. Meanwhile, DAPA also plans to acquire Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) shipborne interceptors to be topped on an 8,200-ton Aegis destroyer of the Jeongjo the Great class via foreign military sales.

The move comes after the government decided to secure SM-3 shipborne missiles through overseas purchases in 2024. The arms procurement agency plans to ink the deal within this year, investing 753 billion won for the project.