DAPA announced on 18 October that it awarded Hanwha Systems a contract to series-produce the PRS-20K: a new mine detection system that is also capable of finding non-metallic mines. The system will be deployed with the RoK Armed Forces from the second half of 2022. (DAPA)
South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced on 18 October that it has awarded Hanwha Systems a contract to series-produce a new man-portable, mine-detection system that is capable of finding both metallic and non-metallic mines.
The agency said in a statement that the new PRS-20K system, development of which was completed in December 2020, is meant to replace the PRS-17K , which has been in service with the South Korean military since the late 1990s but cannot detect non-metallic mines.
DAPA noted that the PRS-20K, which is also more capable of detecting metallic mines than the PRS-17K, will be deployed with the Republic of Korea (RoK) Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps from the second half of 2022.
The system, also known as the ‘Mine Detector II', is the first to be developed in South Korea featuring ground-penetrating radar, which uses radio waves to detect underground objects and features.
The newly develop ‘Mine Detector II' is expected to help minimise potential casualties from land mines swept by water into civilian areas during the rainy season. It can also be used for the war remains excavation project inside the Korean Demilitarized Zone, said the agency.
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