The South Korean military will mass-produce the homegrown Light Armed Helicopter(LAH) to replace its fleet of aging attack helicopters.

After a meeting of the Defense Project Promotion Committee on Monday, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration announced that five-point-seven trillion won, or about four-point-three billion dollars, will be spent to produce the LAH by 2031.

The agency plans to sign a mass production contract with Korea Aerospace Industries, the country's sole aircraft maker, within the year in hopes of deploying the first batch of choppers in late 2024.

South Korea is only the world's seventh country to have locally developed an armed helicopter.

The committee passed a 440 billion-won plan to develop a 155-millimeter precision-guided artillery munition capable of striking the origin of an enemy artillery provocation. It also endorsed a 380 billion-won project to locally develop a 130-millimeter guided-rocket system.

A three-point-three trillion-won plan to purchase heavy attack helicopters from abroad by 2028 was also given the green light.