K-SAAM

For the similarly-named land-based air-defense system of South Korea, see KM-SAM (Cheongung).

The K-SAAM (Korean Surface-to-Anti Air Missile; Korean: 해궁; Hanja: 海弓; RR: Hae-gung) is a South Korean short range ship-launched surface-to-air missile (SAM) system that is being developed by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), LIG Nex1 and Hanhwa Defense. It features inertial mid-course guidance and a dual microwave and Infrared homing seeker for terminal guidance. It will replace the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM).^[1][2] It has been deployed on Daegu-class frigates and ROKS Marado.

K-SAAM
K-SAAM mockup at IDEX
Type	Surface-to-air missile
Place of origin	South Korea
Service history
In service	2021-present
Used by	Republic of Korea Navy
Production history
Designer	Agency for Defense Development LIG Nex1 Hanhwa Defense (Now Hanwha Aerospace)
Designed	2011-2018
Manufacturer	LIG Nex1 Hanwha Aerospace
Produced	2019-present
Specifications
Length	3.08 m (10.1 ft)
Operational range	20 kilometres (12 mi)
Maximum speed	Mach 2
Guidance system	Fire-and-forget, infrared homing, ultra-high frequency explorer

History

Development started in 2011 which was extended for 2 more years after series of failures during testing in 2016 with testing in 2017 being deemed successful and questioned by anonymous source with knowledge involving evaluation test which referred to North Korean Kumsong-3 anti-ship missile as one of major threats for ROK navy's ships along with other neighbouring countries.^[3]

Export

In 2024, it is reported that Malaysia had interest in equipping its Littoral Mission Ship Batch 2 with Korean Surface-to-Anti Air Missile (K-SAAM).^[4]

See also

• KP-SAM
• K-SAM (based on Crotale)
• KM-SAM
• L-SAM
• List of surface-to-air missiles
• List of anti-aircraft weapons