UAE Signs Final Export Contract for Cheongung

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The United Arab Emirates (UAE) finalized an export contract for the Cheongung-II (M-SAM Block-2) with LIG Nex1 on the 31st of last month. This came just two weeks after the UAE Ministry of Defense announced on Twitter on the 16th of last month (local time) that it was pursuing the introduction of the Korean-style air defense system M-SAM (Cheongung) to qualitatively enhance its defense capabilities.

The Cheongung-II battery consists of a fire control center, a multifunction radar, and three launcher vehicles. Each launcher can carry eight interceptor missiles. The radar was developed by Hanwha Systems, and the launcher vehicles were developed by Kia and Hanwha Defense. During the UAE export process, LIG Nex1 formed a ‘one team’ with these companies to compete for the contract. To pioneer the Middle Eastern market, LIG Nex1 opened a local office in the UAE in 2006 to expand its business there, and since 2011, it has consistently participated in international defense exhibitions in the Middle East, including IDEX, held biennially in the UAE. The Cheongung-II contract is worth up to 4 trillion KRW, of which LIG Nex1’s contract amount for exporting the missiles reaches 2.6 trillion KRW.

Cheongung-II is a domestically developed medium-range, medium-altitude surface-to-air interception system designed to simultaneously counter ballistic missile and aircraft attacks. It has been developed under the supervision of the Agency for Defense Development since 2012. Production began in 2018 and is planned to continue until 2023.

The maximum speed of Cheongung II is Mach 5, with a length of 4 meters and a weight of 400 kg. The price per missile is approximately 1.5 billion KRW. In a 2017 test launch, it achieved a 100% hit rate. The missile is launched vertically from a vertical launcher using a ‘cold launch’ method, where the missile shoots straight up and then sharply changes direction to intercept the target (enemy ballistic missile). It was developed through technological cooperation with Russia and is similar to the Russian S-350 interceptor missile.

The South Korean military plans to increase the number of Cheongung-II batteries by about three times the original quantity in response to North Korea’s development of the KN-23 ‘North Korean version of Iskander’ with evasive maneuvers and super-large multiple rocket launchers.

This Cheongung-II export to the UAE was reportedly secured by winning the competition against the Israeli-made ‘Barak’ interceptor missile. A military source said, "Winning against the Israeli interceptor missile, which is recognized for its performance in the global market, is very significant." It is also reported that the UAE’s nuclear power plant exports and the continuous dispatch of the Korean military’s Ark unit positively influenced this decision.