With the military authorities making official the domestic development of a long-range air-to-air guided missile to be mounted on the Korean fighter KF-21, fierce competition is expected at this year's Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (ADEX) between LIG Nex1, which put the long-range air-to-air guided missile front and center, and Hanwha Aerospace (Hanwha Aero), which is in charge of system integration for the missile prototype (a physical implementation of the design drawings).
According to the defense industry on the 2nd, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration is reviewing the timing for the bid announcement for the long-range air-to-air guided missile project. With the project budget secured, the industry expects the notice to be issued early next year. In Sep., at the 171st Defense Project Promotion Committee meeting, the agency decided to select the system developer for the long-range air-to-air guided missile through open competition. Aircraft system integration will be handled by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the manufacturer of the KF-21.
At this year's ADEX, LIG Nex1 displayed a 1-to-1 scale model of a long-range air-to-air guided missile alongside long-range air-to-ground and short-range air-to-air guided missiles. Having developed and fielded guided missiles launched from land and sea, the company signaled an expansion into air-launched missiles. LIG Nex1 has previously developed the Cheongung II medium-range surface-to-air guided weapon and the Haegung ship-to-air (launched from warships to air) guided weapon.
Hyundai Rotem also unveiled for the first time at this year's ADEX models of a ducted ramjet engine and a hypersonic ramjet engine. A ducted ramjet engine draws in atmospheric air and combusts it to generate thrust, and the amount of intake air varies depending on the airframe structure. The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) is envisioning a guided missile equipped with a ducted ramjet engine.
Hyundai Rotem also exhibited a model of a hypersonic dual ramjet engine that delivers higher performance than a conventional ramjet. The company signaled its intent to expand its business into aerospace from a focus on ground weapons. LIG Nex1 and Hyundai Rotem are collaborating after winning contracts under the long-range air-to-air guided missile prototype project for airframe structure and propulsion unit manufacturing.
The defense industry views LIG Nex1, which exhibited a missile model, as aiming for system integration, and Hyundai Rotem, which unveiled an engine, as targeting the propulsion contract. A defense industry official said, "Guided weapons mounted on airborne platforms are called the 'final boss' of missile manufacturing technology. Competition with Hanwha, which has already developed various guided weapons, is unavoidable."
Hanwha Aerospace and Hanwha Systems also displayed air-to-air guided missile models at this year's ADEX. They also showcased the actual active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar to be mounted on the KF-21. Hanwha Systems is developing a system in which the AESA radar delivers detection and tracking commands to the KF-21's datalink equipment, and the datalink equipment then sends them to the seeker attached to the long-range air-to-air guided missile.
Hanwha Systems won the contract to produce the seeker for the long-range air-to-air guided missile prototype, and Hanwha Aerospace is responsible for system integration to combine the prototypes produced by each company.
Starting next year through 2033, the military plans to complete system development of the long-range air-to-air guided missile with a total of 753.5 billion won. After that, beginning in 2035, it plans to launch full-scale mass production with 1.1471 trillion won.