South Korea develops new technology to detect chemical weapon attack

By Mateen Dalal

South Korea’s state-run weapons development agency has recently announced developing its very first home-based technology for the early detection of chemical weapon attacks at long distances.

The Agency for Defense Development said that it had self-reliantly secured a “Hyperspectral Imaging Stand-off Chemical Agent Detection System,” which offers early warnings by identifying and monitoring the spread of CWAs or Chemical Warfare Agents in contaminant plumes. 

The new technology of remote sensing supervises the spread of contamination in actual time in case of any attack, by evaluating 2D images and spectral data of infrared radiation. With this technological invention, South Korea can now visualize the dispersion path of chemical agents.

As per the ADD, Seoul is anticipated to “protect the ability to rapidly and efficiently reply to chemical weapons threats,” and lessen the damage of chemical attacks based on the new technology.

It has been reported that the lightweight and transferrable chemical warfare agent sensor can be integrated on a variety of platforms, including staffed and unmanned reconnaissance systems.

The ADD said that it is working towards administering the secured technology for the development of “weapons systems” for detecting chemical agents with a hyperspectral visualizing infrared sensor.

The agency further said that the technology leveraged in detectors will be “actively “transmitted to the related companies.

The agency would also attempt on focusing on augmenting military strength and private-public joint eagerness competences against terrorism. The agency, as part of these efforts, will further develop fundamental technology for remotely spotting biological warfare agents.

The ADD enlightened that the chemical agent detector was the result of a research and development project which was commenced in 2012 as a part of the principal technology project directed by South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

Furthermore, as per a report, the US army anticipates that Pyongyang holds metric tons of chemical 2,500–5,000 of weapons and builds 20 different types of chemical weapons programs, which include the extremely toxic sarin and VX chemical agents. The US Army also braced for the opportunity of Pyongyang consuming chemical artillery shells.

Source Credit - http://m.koreaherald.com/amp/view.php?ud=20211208000645