The Ministry of National Defense of South Korea recently, sort of offered a rare up-close glimpse at two of the country’s leading defense programs. During a broad demonstration on Wednesday, military officials focused on the combat-proven Cheongung-II surface-to-air missile system and also let the press look into the active assembly line for the KF-21 supersonic fighter jet, in other words, showing how it’s being built right now. 

Cheongung-II: Combat-Proven Defense Against Aerial Threats

At an air base in Sacheon, the Republic of Korea Air Force carried out a pretty intense emergency engagement exercise. It started with this blaring siren, and in just a few seconds, crew members ran hard to the launcher, then kicked off a firing sequence that basically wiped out a supposed ballistic missile right off their radar screens.  

The Cheongung-II, meanwhile, has already shown off strong results in real-world conditions. Once it was exported to the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Defence, the system reportedly intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles during a big combined attack earlier this year. With an intercept rate that is said to be above 90 percent, this stands as the first officially confirmed case of a South Korean weapons platform actually downing an enemy missile in live combat. After that, interest from Saudi Arabia and several other Middle Eastern governments has noticeably climbed.  

This system can neutralize both aircraft and ballistic missiles, around 15 to 20 kilometers in altitude (9 to 12.5 miles). The medium-range Cheongung-II uses a cold-launch arrangement along with side thrusters, so it can constantly fine-tune its flight course on the fly. The batteries are also now said to be outnumbering U.S. Patriot systems purely by the count, and they make up the core backbone of South Korea’s air defense network spread across more than 30 installations. And to deal with newer threats like kamikaze drones, officials also said that older antiaircraft guns are being redeployed while they can.

KF-21 Boramae: The Future of South Korea’s Aerial Dominance

Later in the day journalists were invited to take a look at the flight testing and production places for the KF-21 fighter jet, all run and sort of spearheaded by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). At Seoul Air Base, one KF-21 prototype managed to finish a fast 10-second takeoff right beside a KF-16 fighter; it was brief but noticeable.