South Korea Announces Development of Domestic “Iron Dome”
25 January, 2025 A test launch of the LAMD missile. Photo credits: LIG Nex1 South Korea has announced the development of a domestic analog of the Israeli Iron Dome system
This is reported by the official website of the Defense Procurement Program Administration. Relevant discussions on the development of the system took place on January 20, 2025, as part of the development of a long-range artillery interception complex, which is positioned as the "Korean Iron Dome". The discussions were attended by the representatives of LIG Nex1, Hanwha Aerospace and Hanwha Systems, which have now been instructed to develop a prototype.
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Photo credits: DAPA
The LAMD (Low Altitude Missile Defense) system is being developed to protect important areas of the South Korean capital, Seoul, as well as military units from long-range artillery and MLRS of the DPRK and is designed to intercept volley attacks. The system is expected to be developed by 2028 with its adoption in 2029. To date, the LSMD missile has already been tested and confirmed its performance and ability to intercept small airborne targets.
So far, the Ministry of Defense has allocated funding of £362.25 million to create a prototype launcher that will be mounted on a semi-trailer. The launcher will have 32 missiles, and the total number of missiles in the battery will reach 128.
It is expected that the missile will be equipped with an advanced active homing head, which will increase the number of simultaneously fired targets.
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In addition, the missiles will receive an internal information exchange system and will share it with other missiles to effectively intercept North Korean MLRS volley launches. The LAMD will become one of the components of Korea's missile defense and will strengthen the echeloned air and missile defense system, which currently consists of L-SAM, Patriot, Aegis, THAAD and tactical level systems.
Earlier, Militarnyi reported that South Korea had completed the development of a domestic L-SAM missile defense system to intercept intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
It should be noted that after completing the development of the L-SAM Block 1 complex, South Korea began developing the L-SAM Block 2, which will be focused on an increased radius of interception of ballistic targets at altitudes up to 100 km and at a longer range.