South Korea’s Missile Ready to Crush North Korean Nuclear Bunker

The German long-range air-to-ground cruise missile Taurus weighs 1.4 tons, has a warhead weight of 480kg and can reach a range of 500km. It outperforms the British Storm Shadow missile. It has the power to penetrate up to 6 meters of reinforced concrete, earning it the nickname of a monster missile. Currently, the South Korean Air Force is operating it on the F-15K. It will be mounted on the domestically produced supersonic fighter KF-21 to directly target the North Korean command, completing the last puzzle of the Korean-style 3-axis system with independent attack capabilities. However, air precision strike-guided weapons like the monster missile Taurus are still being imported from abroad. While we can develop ballistic missiles launched from the ground and sea, the development of air-launched missiles is progressing slowly.

In response, the military planned the Korean-style Taurus development project in the 2010s to make long-range air-to-ground missiles with domestic technology as a secondary project in introducing additional KEPD 350 air-to-ground missiles from Germany’s Taurus Systems. This marked the start of the domestication of long-range air-to-ground missiles that could strike all areas of North Korea from the South Korean airspace.

Mounted on KF-21, it can strike and annihilate the North Korean command

When the Taurus missile was deployed in the Air Force, it was the first Asian country to operate a long-range air-to-ground missile of over 500km. However, with only 260 imported from Germany, the Air Force concluded that about 600 ground-to-air guided missiles were needed. Accordingly, the military authorities confirmed the plan to supplement the remaining quantity with “domestic air-to-ground guided missiles.” Once deployed in actual combat, if North Korea provokes the South, it will be directly attacked by mounting it on the domestic supersonic fighter KF-21, which is 350-500km away from the provocation origin like the North Korean nuclear bunker or the North Korean command such as Kim Jong Un.

The development started in 2018, the exploratory development was completed by the end of 2021, and the system development will proceed until 2028. The companies participating in the development are LIG Nex1 (system) and Hanwha Aerospace (engine). The development cost is about 310 billion won (US$ 235 million), the production cost is 500 billion won (US$ 380 million), and a total of 810 billion won (US$ 613 million) will be invested by 2031 when it is produced. The economic effect of domestic development of long-range air-to-ground missiles is expected to be about 430 billion won (US$325 million), and it is expected to create more than 3,700 jobs.

Unlike ground and sea-launched guided missiles, air-launched guided missiles have been unexplored due to the lack of aircraft safety mounting and separation technology. From 2019 to the end of 2021, exploratory development was carried out, and the technology was successfully developed. A new history was written by proceeding with system development in 2022.

The long-range air-to-ground guided missile that entered system development is the first air-launched guided missile developed with domestic technology, also known as Cheonryong or “Korean-style Taurus.” It can precisely attack the enemy’s core targets hundreds of kilometers away and is expected to be used as a vital weapon of the KF-21 fighter.

The military’s long-range air-to-ground guided missile project is divided into two phases. As the threat of North Korea’s nuclear and missiles accelerated, the project’s first phase was introducing the Taurus 350K from overseas, which can be mounted and operated on the Air Force F-15K fighter as an emergency response measure.

On the other hand, the project’s second phase was to develop a domestic long-range air-to-ground missile to be mounted on the KF-21 Boramae fighter. Once development is completed, the air-to-ground missile will be positioned as an air-launched cruise missile that can precisely strike strategic targets from a long distance outside the enemy’s air threat area when mounted on the KF-21 Boramae fighter.

Thanks to low-altitude flight, enemy radar can’t find it

Cheonryong is designed to allow complex precision guidance like Taurus. Therefore, it has image and terrain contrast and terminal guidance functions, enabling precision strikes within an error range of 1~2m. It flies at a low altitude, making detecting enemy radar difficult.

In addition, it focuses on miniaturization, weight reduction, aviation integration, and stealth to maximize the efficiency and survivability of the KF-21 Boramae fighter. In particular, it enhances anti-jamming capabilities to add even higher reliability. Unlike Taurus, its bulky body has been streamlined into a stealth shape. It is also expected to significantly reduce the probability of being detected by enemy radar by applying special paint. Cheonryong can store many more targets. This increases the pilot’s choices in the air, increasing operational flexibility. It can carefully examine North Korean nuclear facilities in real-time and choose the optimal strike location at the last moment before the guided missile launch.

Cheonryong weighs similarly to Taurus but can fly further and strike. It flies with a jet engine and flies faster at a higher subsonic level than Taurus. Above all, Taurus injects fuel just before the flight, but Cheonryong can be stored with fuel injected for 5-10 years. Because of this, it can shorten the fighter sortie preparation time, enabling immediate operational deployment. In urgent situations, time reduction contributes to the success of the operation.

Cheonryong is characterized by a design that combines the advantages of the Taurus missile and the U.S.’s ‘AGM-158 JASSM’ in terms of performance and design. It adopts a dual warhead structure like Taurus. Also, it’s an improved version of Taurus but has a range of over 600km, and penetration power is about 90% of the original. It reduces the weight and length to be mounted and operated on a medium or low-grade fighter by downsizing and modifying the shape of the 350K.

Cheonryong also reduces size and weight, considering mounting on KF-21 and FA-50. Thanks to this, it can be mounted on all existing Air Force fighters, such as the FA-50 light attack aircraft, KF-16, and F-15K.

Accordingly, if the Cheonryong missile is deployed in actual combat, it is expected to play a game-changing role by being able to instantly eliminate the North Korean military command from the beginning of the war, along with cruise missiles such as ground-to-ground, ship-to-ground, and submarine-to-ground missiles.

Bunker-buster capability for underground targets

The new missile is expected to have a penetrating warhead function that can strike underground bunkers, also known as the bunker buster role. The Taurus missile currently used by our military can penetrate 6 meters of reinforced concrete. The new missile is expected to have similar or improved performance to Taurus, so it can quickly target and annihilate the North Korean command, which is likely to hide in underground tunnels, even without reaching out to the U.S. strategic assets in an emergency.

Above all, Cheonryong is expected to be a new driving force for defense exports in combination with KF-21. A defense agency official said, “When the development of the Korean-style long-range air-to-ground guided missile is completed, it is expected to have effects such as expanding the export market and promoting the development of various aviation guided weapons,” and “It will greatly contribute to enhancing the export competitiveness of the KF-21 fighter, which is being developed for the first time with domestic technology.”

By. Hyun Ho Lee