We’ve all done it, the Norwegians, Japanese, Koreans, Aussies, etc–during exercises, which tends to greatly favor the submarines with very short detection range, and even shorter underwater range.

The USN is now intending to go littoral, and the threat of SSK has increased, of that there is no doubt.

The notion of escalation by South Korea is laughable. Japan and China is more likely to escalate each other than anything done by South Korea. Does that mean that we shouldn’t respond?

As for developing aviation industry, while I agree that there should be certain technological edges South Korea should attain, I really don’t see how a mass-production of slightly modified attack aircraft will significantly increase that capability. A mass production (some 250 aircrafts of T-50 lineage) is what KAI wants according to their plans, out of an Air Force that’s planning to retain ~420 tactical aircraft fleet.

Maybe you mean Angola. That painjob, shown below, is a disgrace to such an aircraft!

Oh dear lord, that’s criminal!

It looks like missile launch vehicle for the Japanese Type 03 medium-range guided missile. It’s a SAM system the Japanese developed to replace the Hawk batteries.

Stealthy and cheap doesn’t mate too well. Any nation unable to afford the F-35 or the latest F-16s are unlikely to be interested in stealth technology all that much. Gripen is always available in light-weight fighter market, and so will LIFT aircrafts like T-50 (A-50 attack version) or Yak-130. Anyone unable to get that…will probably have to give up tactical fighter wing of the airforce. Fighters are increasingly becoming more expensive to acquire and maintain.

Two crashed? Only one F-15K crashed, with the investigation result probably being released next week.

I think you seriously underestimate South Korean counter-battery firepower, and overestimate North Korean one. While North Koreans have larger number of guns, they are seriously hampered by the slow rate of fire and having to constantly relocate due to the dangers of South Korean or American artilleries zeroing in on it. North Korean artilleries are dangerous, but their threat is way overblown by many people. Our guns have superior mobility and fire-control over the North ones. This more than makes up for the numerical disadvantages.

No one, not even the North Koreans themselves consider conventional war over South Korea winnable. Their military acquisitions have focused on missile and artillery forces for several years now, not their outdated tanks, airforce, navy, or infantry.