Estimated Hitting Ratio only 8 Percent

It was reported on 19th that the hitting ratio of the aged Nike missiles, which are the air defense weapon our military has, was only 8 to 30 percent.

And overall alteration of air defense strategy is required because the selection of new missile models for SAM-X has been postponed due to the cost. SAM-X is a self-guided armed missiles project for next generation, for which 2 trillion and 283.6 billion won is to be invested to introduce 48 new missiles to replace the 200 old Nike missiles.

According to the reports that The Defense Ministry handed in to Kang Sam-Jae, the lawmaker of Grand National Party in Defense Committee of National Assembly, the hitting ratio of Nike was 8 percent in the test that The Air Force commissioned to Agency for Defense Development (ADD).

But Defense Ministry said, "The ratio of 8 percent was the result under the bitter -50 degree Celsius in 1998. But it was over 30 percent in the test performed by ADD last year."

But such result is only half of the hitting ratio of the best Nike missiles.

Therefore, The Defense Ministry announced that to counterbalance the aged Nike, it would introduce air defense measures such as △ placing two missiles for one target △ new arrangement of Hawk missiles which range up to 40 km △ intensifying the patrol of fighter planes, which improves the ability of long range attack.

Nike missiles are the old models that were positioned in Korea (by USAFK) in 1950s, and they are still used for the combat battle only in Korea, nowhere else in the world uses it.

Dong-Ki Sung esprit@donga.com