Saudi Arabia’s Science Technology has partnered with South Korea’s Hanwha Defense to jointly produce new K30 Biho (Flying Tiger) II air defense systems (ADS).
According to the company, a hybrid Biho ADS completed foreign trials in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) has an ambitious goal of producing 50% of defense equipment by 2030. Riyadh recently collaborated with Russia to manufacture Kalashnikov assault rifles. It has also commenced production of Haboob drone using technology shared by Turkey.
It combines an electro-optically guided 30 mm gun system with a surveillance radar system on a K200 chassis. It supplements the K263A1 Chungung, a self-propelled 20 mm Vulcan system. The system consists of an electro-optical targeting system (EOTS), panoramic periscope, forward looking infrared system (FLIR), laser rangefinder (LRF), thermal sight, a TV camera, and a digital fire-control system.
Biho’s TPS-830K radar can detect and track a 22 sqft-RCS target from a range of 17 km. The cannons have a cyclic rate of fire of 600 rpm and an effective anti-aircraft range of 3,000 m and each is loaded with 300 rounds of ammunition. In December 2013, DAPA announced that the Biho had been integrated with the Shingung surface-to-air missile to increase its coverage to 7 km. Two pods each containing two missiles are mounted, one of each side of the turret.
