Like Bullets Hitting Bullets: The World of Interceptor Missiles

Highlighting Air Defense Power Against Aerial Threats Including Ballistic Missiles
Our Military's Air Defense Capability Included in the Ranks of Advanced Armed Forces

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Since World War I and II, aerial threats have continuously evolved. Today, air power is a crucial factor determining the outcome of wars, and the importance of air defense is increasingly emphasized. Furthermore, the Iran-Iraq War and the Gulf War confirmed that ballistic missiles can play a significant role in actual combat, making ballistic missile threats a major concern and placing them at the top of threat priority lists. Air defense forces are responsible for countering aerial threats, including ballistic missiles.

Countries that conduct air defense solely with domestically developed weapon systems are rare worldwide. Air defense guided weapons are classified by range into man-portable, short-range, and medium-to-long-range categories. Although recent technological advances have blurred these distinctions, South Korea stands out as a leading nation in air defense by independently developing guided weapons across all three categories. This is even more true when including ballistic missile defense. South Korea developed and deployed short-range surface-to-air guided missiles in the 1990s, the man-portable surface-to-air guided missile Shingung in the 2000s, and completed development of the medium-range surface-to-air guided missile Cheongung in 2011. Recently, mass production and deployment of Cheongung have been completed.

▲ Short-range surface-to-air guided missile ‘Cheongma’= In the mid-1980s, to break away from reliance on foreign air defense guided weapons, the Army raised a requirement for a short-range surface-to-air guided missile. Cheongma is a complex guided weapon system mounted on a tracked vehicle, equipped with detection and tracking radars and launchers, designed to support air defense for maneuver units.

The Army recognized the difficulty of domestic development and submitted the requirement early to allow sufficient development time. However, many were skeptical about whether a surface-to-air guided missile could be developed domestically, and even within the research institute, there was reluctance to take on the project due to doubts about success. The Defense Science Research Institute’s project team overcame these concerns and succeeded in development. The project took a total of 11 years, and at the time, the Cheongma project was a large-scale endeavor with a preliminary development budget of approximately 90 billion won. Cheongma was produced and deployed in large quantities, marking the establishment of the guided missile industry in South Korea.

▲ Man-portable surface-to-air weapon, Shingung= Building on the confidence and experience gained from the successful development of Cheongma, the Defense Science Research Institute was given the opportunity to develop a new air defense guided weapon. Problems in operation and logistics support of various imported man-portable surface-to-air guided weapons led the military to boldly decide on domestic development. Shingung’s system development began in the late 1990s and was completed in 2004. South Korea became the fifth country in the world to develop a surface-to-air guided missile equipped with an infrared seeker. Shingung demonstrated excellent performance in military training firings and was the first air defense guided weapon exported overseas. The large demand for the system resulted in significant import substitution and considerable economic benefits.

Cheongma - Complex guided weapon system mounted on a tracked vehicle with detection, tracking radar, and launcher
Shingung - Fifth in the world to equip a surface-to-air guided missile with an infrared seeker
Cheongung - Demonstrated outstanding performance by directly hitting most targets during one year of testing and evaluation
Haegung - The world’s only ship defense guided weapon equipped with infrared imaging seeker and ultra-high frequency seeker

▲ Medium-range surface-to-air weapon ‘Cheongung’= After successfully developing Cheongma and Shingung, the Defense Science Research Institute took on the challenge of developing Cheongung, South Korea’s main medium-range surface-to-air guided missile system. Developing a new concept complex weapon system featuring high-mobility, high-precision guided missiles, multifunction radar, and vertical launch was a significant technical challenge. The development cost during the system development phase was about 500 billion won, a large amount at the time. Cheongung demonstrated excellent performance by directly hitting most targets during about one year of testing and evaluation. It was completed in 2011 and currently bears the responsibility for South Korea’s air defense. Cheongung is a world-class air defense guided weapon system attracting interest from many countries due to its high hit rate, multi-target engagement capability, rapid deployment and mobility, and survivability, with exports anticipated.

▲ After Cheongung, relentless challenges= After observing Cheongung’s firing tests and confirming its development potential, the military aggressively pursued requirements for a follow-up low-altitude ballistic missile interception weapon system even while Cheongung was still under development. As a result, development of Cheongung II, a low-altitude ballistic missile interception weapon, began in 2012, the year following Cheongung’s completion. Developing a ballistic missile interception system is a highly challenging project, often likened to hitting a bullet with another bullet, but Cheongung II passed all test firings and evaluations with successful hits and was completed in 2017.

Based on the air defense guided missile development technologies secured so far, the Defense Science Research Institute is pursuing diversification of air defense missile platforms. Utilizing technologies acquired from Cheongung, development of Haegung, a ship defense guided weapon, was completed in 2018. Haegung is the world’s only ship defense guided weapon equipped with dual seekers?an infrared imaging seeker and an ultra-high frequency seeker?and its performance is also world-class. Currently, the Defense Science Research Institute is focusing on developing the L-SAM, a high-altitude ballistic missile interception system, and plans to develop various air-to-air missiles as well as medium-to-long-range ship-based air defense guided missiles.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.