South Korea’s military offered a rare look inside two of its flagship defense programs on Wednesday, demonstrating the Cheongung-II surface-to-air missile system that successfully intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles in combat and opening its KF-21 supersonic fighter jet assembly line to Saudi officials.
Three crew members sprinted to a Cheongung-II launcher. Seconds later, an engagement control officer gave the order to fire. A simulated ballistic missile on the radar screen vanished instantly.
The same system was exported to the United Arab Emirates and deployed earlier this year during the Middle East conflict, where it successfully intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles in a large-scale combined attack, according to Air Force officials on the day.
“This is the first confirmed case of a Korean weapons system directly shooting down an enemy missile in actual combat,” an official said, adding that the system’s intercept rate is known to exceed 90 percent.
The confirmation marks the first time the military has officially acknowledged the Cheongung’s combat performance in the Iran war.
Defense officials said interest from Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries has grown sharply since the system’s battlefield debut.
The Cheongung-II is a medium-range, medium-to-high-altitude surface-to-air missile system capable of engaging both aircraft and ballistic missiles at altitudes of 15 to 20 kilometers (9 to 12.5 miles). It uses a cold-launch system and adjusts its trajectory midflight using lateral thrusters, allowing it to engage even highly maneuverable targets from any direction. Cheongung-I and II batteries are now deployed at more than 30 military installations across the country, surpassing the U.S. Patriot batteries in number to become the backbone of Korea’s air and missile defense system.
Officials noted that North Korea’s use of kamikaze drones and cruise missiles remains a concern. A senior Air Force official said, however, that South Korea is better positioned than Ukraine was against drone threats, with close-in antiaircraft gun defenses deployed unit by unit. “We are actually redeploying antiaircraft guns we had considered retiring 10 years ago to reflect the realities of the modern battlefield,” the official said.
Later in the afternoon, the Air Force and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) opened the test flight operations and production facility of the KF-21 to journalists.
At 2:27 p.m., a KF-21 prototype and a KF-16 fighter stood side by side at the end of a runway at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi.
“Clear for takeoff,” the control tower announced, and the KF-21’s twin engines roared to full power. The jet lifted off in about 10 seconds, followed closely by the KF-16.
The KF-21 is a 4.5-generation multirole fighter and Korea’s first domestically developed jet. Its first production aircraft rolled off the line on March 25 and recently received combat certification. The Air Force is set to take delivery of eight aircraft this year ahead of a formal handover in September. When the aging F-5 retires next year, the KF-21 is expected to lead a full generational transition of Korea’s fighter fleet.
Across a bridge from the air base, 20 KF-21 airframes were being assembled at the KAI’s production facility. The jet is built in three sections — nose, fuselage and tail — joined with a tolerance of just one-quarter the thickness of a sheet of A4 paper, according to KAI. The aircraft has a domestic content rate of over 65 percent.
“Aside from the engine, it’s almost entirely Korean technology,” a KAI spokesperson said.
KAI president Kim Jong-chool said the company sees export potential as well. “We estimate the KF-21’s potential export volume, including units destined for Indonesia, at more than 200 aircraft,” and added that the KAI plans to develop enhanced variants — the KF-21EJ and KF-21EX — with upgraded avionics and stealth capabilities.
Korea is the eighth country in the world to develop a supersonic fighter jet. But military observers at home are quick to temper the enthusiasm — the KF-21 is still an unproven newcomer compared to aircraft like the F-15, which has been tested, refined and improved over half a century of operational use. Sustained upgrades and real-world experience will be needed before it can be considered a mature platform.
There are also capability gaps to address. The current Block I variant — with “block” referring to incremental upgrades or variants of the same aircraft — has only domestically developed air-to-air weapons. Air-to-ground capability — essential for striking North Korean targets — is being developed for Block II, which was originally planned for deployment between 2029 and 2032. Budget pressures have since led the Defense Acquisition Program Administration to ask the Air Force to accept a delay, pushing the Block II operational deadline back to 2036.
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