The Republic of Korea Navy (ROK Navy) is set to deploy the newly developed ship-based Haegung surface-to-air missile, the country’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) stated in late December.
The South Korean Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and LIG Nex1 completed the development of the Haegung (« Sea Bow »). It has been designed to replace Raytheon’s RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile and provide close-in defense for warships. It will be deployed on the RoKN’s frigates and landing ships.
Development of the Haegung began in 2011. Also dubbed K-SAAM, the Haegung missal features an inertial mid-course guidance and a dual microwave and infrared homing seeker for terminal guidance.
LIG Nex1 will launches mass production in 2019. First systems are to be installed on ROK Navy vessels starting 2021.
The Haegung is launched from a vertical launcher, with its radar system able to detect several targets simultaneously. In an evaluation test, nine out of 10 guided missiles hit their targets accurately, an ADD official said in November 2018.
