Key Points and Summary – South Korea is developing an air-launched hypersonic ballistic missile to be carried by its new, indigenous KF-21 Boramae fighter jet.
-The weapon is an air-launched variant of the existing KTSSM, a land-based missile originally designed to destroy North Korean artillery, and will give the KF-21 a powerful, long-range strategic strike capability.
-The program is already being compared to Russia’s Kh-47 Kinzhal missile, a comparison South Korean industry is using as a key selling point to market the KF-21 to nervous NATO allies like Poland, who are seeking a potent deterrent against Russia.
A ‘South Korean Kinzhal’? A Deep Dive into the KF-21’s New Hypersonic Missile
WARSAW, POLAND – According to recent reports, the Republic of [South] Korea Air Force (ROKAF) is developing an air-launched hypersonic ballistic missile that will be launched from the new indigenously-developed Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) KF-21 Boramae fighter jet.
A Japanese military analyst known as “Yonghak” has said that this missile project will be based on the KTSSM missile.
The air-launched concept is similar to the Israeli Air LORA and ROCKS program, as well as the American Mako. However, in Central Europe, with the war in Ukraine raging next door, the programme is being compared to the Kh-47 M2 Russian Kinzhal missile that is launched from a Mikoyan MiG-31K and has been used regularly against Ukrainian cities.
Comparing the missile to the Kinzhal also conveniently fits into the marketing strategy for the KF-21. One of the countries that KAI has been marketing the KF-21 to is Poland, which has been looking nervously at how much destruction the Russian missiles have been able to visit on Ukraine, as well as asking themselves how they would be able to “hit back” if similarly attacked by Moscow.
On June 26, Major General Ireneusz Nowak, Inspector of the Polish Air Force, flew in the KF-21 as part of a visit to KAI headquarters in Sacheon, according to the company’s press service. Currently, the Polish Air Force’s FA-50PL fighter jets are being manufactured by KA, and the air force inspector was there to observe. Nowak flew in the rear seat of a two-seat combat-capable trainer model of the aircraft, in what the company called a “test drive.”
Speaking in 2023 at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) defense exposition in Malaysia, KAI executives explained that once the company has made a sale of its FA-50 combat aircraft, that same customer air force is now a potential buyer for the KF-21.
In the case of Poland and other FA-50 customers, the rationale for combining this aircraft with the KF-21 would be to create a “hi-lo” mix of fighter aircraft. This fleet dynamic would be mirroring the F-15, plus the F-16 fighter combination that was the signature force structure for the US Air Force (USAF) beginning in the 1970s. This kind of air force fighter inventory was later adopted in some manner by the Israeli Air Force (IAF), ROKAF, and the Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces (JASDF).
A “South Korean Kinzhal”
The KTSSM (Korean Tactical Surface-to-Surface Missile), or “Ure”, is a tactical surface-to-surface ballistic missile developed by the ROK for a specific mission. It is designed to cause wide-scale destruction on the artillery positions, missile systems, and fortifications in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
One of the significant threats to the ROK is the DPRK’s wide-ranging artillery presence along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), maintained by the Korean People’s Army (KPA). These artillery emplacements are only 30 kilometers from Seoul, the ROK capital. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ (IISS) Military Balance 2024, the DPRK possesses over 21,000 artillery pieces, some of them the longer-range 170mm Koksan guns, plus 240mm multiple rocket launchers (MRLs).
Hanwha Corporation initially developed the KTSSM in partnership with the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) as a land-based missile system. In the event of a military conflict, these missiles would rapidly neutralize these DPRK long-range artillery threats.
The missile was designed to deliver a “decisive tactical advantage,” as noted in one article on the system. The KTSSM can launch four missiles almost simultaneously from a fixed launch pad. Each missile has a range of up to 120 kilometers (75 miles). The launcher and missile set represent a combined cost of approximately $1.9 million, which makes it a more cost-effective solution in comparison with most Western systems.
The Air-Launched Version for KF-21 Fighter?
The air-launched version of the missile is planned to be carried and fired by the KF-21 fighter. Its mission profile is not unlike other air-launched missiles—the aircraft is to break through enemy air defenses and then launch this missile on strategic targets.
Unlike the land-based versions of the KTSSM, the air-launched variant would be used to hit strategically significant targets in the rear areas like command bunkers, military installations, and logistics infrastructure. “According to available data, it is planned to purchase more than 100 missiles. However, the exact schedule is still unknown,” the same Japanese military analyst said.
Serial production of KF-21 fighters has already begun, and they are to be powered with two of the GE F414 engine, which is the same power plant used by the US Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. One of the other largest of the ROK defense companies, Hanwha Aerospace, has since signed a contract to build 80 of the F414 models under license to support KF-21 production.
During the KF-21’s development, almost all modern air-launched weapons were tested on the aircraft. These were short-range air-to-air missiles like the IRIS-T, ASRAAM, and AIM-9X, the medium-range AIM-120 AMRAAM, and the long-range ramjet-powered Meteor, which have all been integrated into the KF-21 fire control system.
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson has thirty-six years of experience analyzing and reporting on foreign weapons systems, defense technologies, and international arms export policy. Johnson is the Director of Research at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation. He is also a survivor of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He worked for years in the American defense industry as a foreign technology analyst and later as a consultant for the US Department of Defense, the Departments of the Navy and Air Force, and the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia. In 2022-2023, he won two awards in a row for his defense reporting. He holds a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and a master’s degree from Miami University in Ohio, specializing in Soviet and Russian studies. He lives in Warsaw.
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