The Ministry of National Defense of South Korea announced the signing of an intergovernmental agreement with the Ministry of Defense of Saudi Arabia on February 6, 2024 on the supply of 10 batteries of new South Korean Cheongung II (KM-SAM Block II) medium-range anti-aircraft missile systems to Saudi Arabia at the international defense and security exhibition World Defense Show 2024 in Riyadh. The agreement finalizes the contract concluded in November 2023 by the Ministry of Defense of Saudi Arabia with the South Korean company LIG Nex1 (part of the LG Group), which is the main manufacturer of Cheongung II. The cost of the agreement is 3.2 billion US dollars (about 4.25 trillion South Korean won).
Ground launch of an anti-aircraft guided missile from a self-propelled launcher of the South Korean Cheongung II medium-range anti-aircraft missile system (KM-SAM Block II), 2020 (c) DAPA
This is the second contract for the supply abroad of the South Korean Cheongung II medium-range air defense system (KM-SAM Block II) - the first was concluded in January 2022 with the United Arab Emirates, assuming the supply of 12 complexes (batteries) to the latter Cheongung II worth $3.5 billion. The first Cheongung II complex was delivered to the UAE at the end of 2022.
The Cheongung II air defense system (KM-SAM Block II) is a modified version of the South Korean medium-range air defense system KM-SAM Block I (Cheongung I - "Iron Eagle", its creation program was designated Cheolmae 2), developed with the active assistance of the Russian JSC Concern East Kazakhstan Region Almaz-Antey. According to the agreements of 1999 and 2005, the Russian side was responsible for the creation of a multifunctional X-band radar with passive headlights and a command post of the KM-SAM Block I complex, as well as an anti-aircraft guided missile (based on 9M96 series missiles). The KM-SAM Block I complex has been in mass production for the South Korean armed forces since 2015, while Hanwha Systems (formerly Samsung Thales) of the Hanwha Group produces a multifunctional radar and a command post complex, Hanwha Defense (formerly Doosan DST) is responsible for the production of an eight-container mobile launcher, and LIG Nex1 conducts production anti-aircraft guided missiles and is responsible for the overall integration of the complex. The KM-SAM Block I missile with a mass of 400 kg has a firing range of up to 40 km and an altitude reach of up to 15 km. The guidance system combines radio correction with an active radar homing head.
One KM-SAM complex, which makes up the battery, includes a command post, a multifunctional radar and four eight-container mobile launchers. In total, the South Korean army received 18 serial complexes (batteries) from 2015 to 2020 Cheongung I air defense system, which allowed the obsolete American HAWK air defense systems to be decommissioned.
The upgraded Cheongung II (KM-SAM Block II) air defense system has been developed by the South Korean side since 2012 and has been undergoing field tests since 2015. The main direction of improving the SAM was to give it the ability to defeat operational and tactical ballistic missiles, for which the control system of the complex and the anti-aircraft missile were upgraded. In particular, the Cheongung II missile defense system has increased energy, increased altitude range to 20 km (and, according to some sources, increased range to 50 km) and a directional warhead instead of the usual high-explosive fragmentation.
Since November 2020, the delivery of seven ordered complexes (batteries) to the South Korean army has begun The Cheongung II air defense system with a total cost of 1.119 trillion won ($950 million), which was supposed to be completed in 2023. However, in April 2021, the South Korean government decided to increase the number of purchased complexes (batteries) Cheongung II air defense system up to 20 due to the growing missile threat from the DPRK.
It is reported that further modification of the complex is being developed under the designation Cheongung III, the main difference of which will be the replacement of the "Russian" radar with passive headlights with a new multifunctional radar with AFAR with gallium nitride elements, which is being created with the head role of the South Korean Research Institute of Electronics and Telecommunications (ETRI), the same radar is being created in the ship the MFR version.
The signing ceremony of the agreement for the supply of 10 batteries of South Korean Cheongung II (KM-SAM Block II) medium-range anti-aircraft missile systems to Saudi Arabia. Riyadh, 02/06/2024 (c) Arirang News
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