LIG Nex1's Cheongung-II Developed, First Delivery to Military

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The medium-range ballistic missile interceptor called the 'Korean-style Patriot,' known as 'Cheongung-II,' is being deployed in the military for the first time. Originally, Cheongung-II was scheduled to be deployed starting last year, but the decision was delayed by about a year due to former Minister of National Defense Song Young-moo's postponement.

On the 26th, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration announced that it will deploy Cheongung-II, a medium-range surface-to-air guided weapon, to seven batteries by 2023 at a total cost of 1.0119 trillion KRW. Considering that each battery is equipped with 32 rounds, if seven batteries are established as planned, 224 interceptor missiles can be deployed. Along with the eight Patriot batteries owned by our military and the eight Patriot batteries of the US Forces Korea, which have 108 interceptor missiles, a dense defense network will be formed.

Cheongung-II was developed by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and LIG Nex1 starting in 2012 and received combat suitability certification in 2017. The US Forces Korea had deployed Hawk missiles since the 1960s to intercept aircraft. However, due to the aging of the Hawk missiles, Cheongung (Cheolmae-II) was developed to shoot down aircraft as a replacement. Cheongung was upgraded to intercept ballistic missiles as well, leading to the development of Cheongung-II, which successfully intercepted target missiles similar to North Korea's Scud missiles at the ADD test site in Anheung, Chungnam.

During the test launch, Cheongung ignited a second time in mid-air and flew at Mach 4.5 (approximately 5500 km/h), accurately hitting a target about 40 km away, demonstrating its interception capability against enemy aircraft.

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