South Korea's first long-range surface-to-air missile interception test was successful

Yonhap News Agency, Seoul, November 22. According to news from the South Korean military on the 22nd, the Institute of Defense Science (ADD) recently conducted the first long-range surface-to-air missile (L-SAM) interception test and was successful.

L-SAM is known as the "Korean version of THAAD" and is the core weapon in the Korean missile defense system (KAMD). The military launched anti-missile missiles (ABM) and anti-aircraft missiles (AAM) in the test.

At the beginning of February this year, the Korean Army conducted the first phase of the L-SAM test. No target was set, and the missile was only tested according to the predetermined orbit. At that time, the missile accurately fell into the predetermined landing point, and the test was a complete success. The military carried out the second phase of the test after 9 months and successfully intercepted the pre-targeted missile.

L-SAM is designed to intercept North Korean ballistic missiles flying at an altitude of 50-60 kilometers. After the missile is deployed in actual combat, it will cooperate with the "THAAD" anti-missile system (covering 40-150 kilometers), the "Patriot" (PAC-3) missile (covering 15-40 kilometers), the "Tiangong-2" medium-range ground Anti-aircraft missiles (M-SAM) together form a multi-layer interception system.

The military plans to complete the development of the L-SAM system by the end of 2024 after test firing and evaluation, and put it into mass production from 2026. The system is expected to be operationally deployed in 2027-2028. (Finish)

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