Korea to domestically develop air-to-air missiles for KF-21

South Korea plans to develop short-range, air-to-air missiles to be mounted on the Korean fighter KF-21 with homegrown technology by 2035 in a 591.9 billion won ($460 million) project, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said on Friday.

It announced the plan as the KF-21, developed by Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI), is scheduled for mass production next year. The KF-21, nicknamed Boramae, is South Korea's first domestically developed combat plane.

“The project will improve our self-defense capabilities through domestic development of cutting-edge weapon systems and will also increase the export competitiveness of guided missiles linked to the KF-21,” the administration said.

MISSILES ON LIGHT-ARMED HELICOPTERS

South Korea will also start the mass production of air-to-ground guided missiles to be installed on light-armed helicopters (LAHs) at home by 2031 in a 724.8 billion won project.

LAH, developed by KAI, will be supplied to the Korean Armed Forces from next year to carry out air strike and air assault operations.

The DAPA expected that LAH would become the core force of the ground troops.

On Wednesday, KAI said it signed a 1.4 trillion won order with the DAPA to supply LAHs from 2025. This marked its second supply agreement for the helicopter with the state armed procurement agency.

NAVY HELICOPTERS

To replace the Navy’s aging fleet of maritime operation helicopter Lynx, the DAPA has decided to buy new choppers from foreign aircraft makers.

Industry watchers see Lockheed Martin’s MH-60R Seahawk helicopter and the NHIndustries NH90 as suitable models for the South Korean Navy.

The country will also purchase new command helicopters from abroad. Airbus’ H225M, Leonardo's AW101, Lockheed Martin’s S-92A+ and Bell Textron’s Bell 525 are expected to compete to win South Korean orders.

Write to Dong-Hyun Kim at 3code@hankyung.com
 

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.