On February 6, 2024, the South Korean Ministry of National Defence announced the signing of an intergovernmental agreement with the Saudi Ministry of Defence at the World Defence Show 2024 in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia will get ten batteries of new South Korean medium-range Cheongung II (KM-SAM Block II) anti-aircraft missile systems under the terms of the agreement. This arrangement completes a contract signed in November 2023 by the Saudi Ministry of Defence with LIG Nex1, the major manufacturer of the Cheongung II, a South Korean business owned by the LG Group. The agreement’s total value is USD 3.2 billion.
This is the second deal for exporting South Korea’s medium-range surface-to-air missile system Cheongung II; the first was signed in January 2022 with the United Arab Emirates to supply 12 Cheongung II complexes (batteries) worth $3.5 billion. The first Cheongung II complex was delivered to the UAE by the end of 2022.
The Cheongung II surface-to-air missile system is a modified variant of the South Korean medium-range surface-to-air missile system KM-SAM Block I (Cheongung I – “Iron Hawk”), which was developed in collaboration with the Russian Concern VKO “Almaz-Antey”. According to agreements signed in 1999 and 2005, the Russian side was responsible for developing a multipurpose X-band radar with passive phased array radar, a command post for the KM-SAM Block I system, and a guided missile system (based on the 9M96 missile series). The KM-SAM Block I system has been in serial production for the South Korean armed forces since 2015, with Hanwha Systems (formerly Samsung Thales) of the Hanwha Group manufacturing the system’s multifunctional radar and command post, Hanwha Defence (formerly Doosan DST) producing the eight-container mobile launcher, and LIG Nex1 leading the production of the guided missiles and overall system integration. The KM-SAM Block I missile weighs 400 kg and has a range of up to 40 km and a maximum altitude of 15 km. The navigation system includes radio correction and an active radar homing head.
Each KM-SAM system consists of a battery, a command post, a multifunctional radar, and four eight-container mobile launchers. Between 2015 and 2020, the South Korean army received 18 serial complexes (batteries) of the Cheongung I surface-to-air missile system, allowing them to retire obsolete American HAWK surface-to-air missile systems.
South Korea has been developing the improved Cheongung II surface-to-air missile system since 2012, with field trials beginning in 2015. The primary goal of improving the surface-to-air missile system was to enable it to combat tactical ballistic missiles, which required upgrading its control system and missiles. The Cheongung II missile, in particular, has enhanced energy, a 20-kilometre altitude range (or, according to some sources, a 50-kilometre range), and a directed warhead rather than a normal fragmentation warhead.
Since November 2020, the South Korean army has received seven ordered complexes (batteries) of the Cheongung II surface-to-air missile system, costing USD 950 million, with completion anticipated for 2023. However, in April 2021, the South Korean government purchased an additional 20 Cheongung II batteries (batteries) in response to North Korea’s escalating missile threat.
It is reported that further modification of the complex, designated Cheongung III, is being developed, with the main difference being the replacement of the “Russian” radar with passive phased array radar with a new multifunctional radar with active electronically scanned array radar elements based on gallium nitride, led by the South Korean Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI). A similar radar is being developed for the MFR naval variant.
