South Korea’s LIG Nex1 has begun assembling prototype missiles for the Korean Ship-to-Air Missile II (KSAM-II) program…
The six-meter-long missile is slated to replace SM-2s aboard future KDDX destroyers and FFX Batch IV frigates.
The program is scheduled to run from 2023 to 2036 with an estimated cost of 690 billion won.
Capable of reaching speeds of around Mach 5 and performing maneuvers of up to 17G, the missile is designed to engage highly agile targets.
The weapon features a third-generation Gallium Nitride (GaN)-based active radar seeker with approximately 1 kW of power.
The seeker improves performance against small targets, low-radar-cross-section aircraft, and low-altitude cruise missiles. It can process up to 100 target updates per second, significantly enhancing guidance precision in dense and complex threat environments.
KSAM-II utilizes mid-course flight updates provided by the ship’s combat management system combined with terminal-phase active radar guidance…