Agency for Defense Development

The Agency for Defense Development is the South Korean government agency for research and development in defense technology, funded by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. It was established in August 1970 under the banner of the self-reliant national defense promoted by President Park Chung Hee.
Its purpose is contributing to enforcing the national defence, to improving the national R&D capacity, and to fostering the domestic defense industry. ADD focuses on core weapons systems and core technology development, and studies major weapons platforms in high-risk and non-economical fields, unmanned and advanced, and new weapon systems for the future.
ADD is responsible for first South Korean ballistic missile Nike Hercules Korea-1 aka White/Polar Bear, developed in the 1970s with its first successful test in 1978.
ADD is the operator of South Korea's first dedicated military satellite, ANASIS-II, launched on 20 July 2020 by a Falcon 9 rocket.

WWW Official Site

History

After the three-year Korean War, which ended in an armistice rather than an end-of-war agreement, South Korea and North Korea were in conflict during the Cold War. Since the Mutual Defense Treaty signed in October 1953, South Korea has been making efforts to rebuild its economy while receiving military aid from the United States. Despite military aid from the U.S. and abroad, in July 1954, Rhee Syng-man, then the first president of the South Korean government, established the Ministry of National Defense Scientific Research Institute to foster independent defense production capabilities, and the South Korean government's attempt to produce its own military supplies has contributed to the localization of military supplies such as military food, combat uniforms, and defense components that relied solely on foreign aid.
After the Nixon Doctrine announced on July 25, 1969, about 20,000 U.S. troops in South Korea withdrew, creating an atmosphere of reconciliation between the United States and the Eastern Bloc. President Park Chung-hee, who has been in power since December 1963, believed that the withdrawal of Nixon Doctrine and U.S. troops from South Korea would weaken the military power of South Korea, which relied on the U.S., and North Korea's military provocations against the South, which began in the late 1960s, surged further, and the South Korean government began to feel the need for self-reliant national defense, which did not rely on U.S. military aid. Later, in August 1970, the Agency for Defense Development was established, and in November of the following year, it started an independent defense development project called the Basic Weapon Emergency Prototype Development.
However, in the 1970s, South Korea had poor basic industries and systems to develop and stably produce military equipment. In 1973, the South Korean government designated heavy and chemical industries such as steel, machinery, chemicals, and Petroleum as national strategic industries to foster basic industries. Later, in February 1974, the eight-year military construction defense plan, called Yulgok Project, began, which included plans to strengthen the South Korean military's power.

Organization

Audit department

Source:

Director
Defense industry technology support center

Deputy director

Sources:

Policy Planning Department
Research Planning Department
Academy of Defense Science and Technology
Ground Technology Research Institute
Maritime Technology Research Institute
Aerospace Technology Research Institute
Institute of Civil-Military Technology Cooperation
1st Research and Development Institute
2nd Research and Development Institute
3rd Research and Development Institute
4th Research and Development Institute
5th Research and Development Institute
Institute of Defense Advanced Technology Research
Defense Rapid Acquisition Technology Research Institute
Research Support Headquarters
Safety and Security Center

Major research and development projects

Development programs for defense technology are categorized into basic research and development, key technology R&D, civil-military technology cooperation, and essential parts, software development and technology demonstration of new concepts. Almost all major development projects are collaborating with ADD and South Korean defense company, most of the key technologies are developed under the initiative of the ADD, and private defense companies are responsible for the development of the remaining sub-technology and the production of essential parts and finished products.

Infantry weapon

Missile systems

Source:

Hycore hypersonic cruise missile system
Poniard 2.75-inch in diameter guided rocket system
K136 Kooryong 36 extended multiple rocket launcher system
* Biryong short range ship-to-ship guided weapon system based on K136
K239 Chunmoo self-propelled multiple rocket launcher system
AT-1K Raybolt medium range infantry missile system
LAH-AGM air-to-ground guided missile system
K745A1 Red Shark anti-submarine missile system
SSM-700K C-Star subsonic anti-ship cruise missile system
* SSM-710K enhanced cruise missile system
** SSM-750K enhanced cruise missile system
Korean supersonic anti-ship cruise missile system
Haeryong tactical ship-launched land attack missile based on the Haeseong I
Ure tactical surface-to-surface missile system
Hyunmoo ballistic missile system

Missile defense systems

Source:

KP-SAM manportable surface-to-air missile system
K-SAM short-range surface-to-air missile system based on Crotale R440 missile system
M-SAM medium-range surface-to-air missile system based on technology from the 9M96 missile used on S-350E and S-400 missile systems
* M-SAM Block-II enhanced medium-range surface-to-air missile system
K-SAAM short range ship-based surface-to-air missile system
L-SAM long-range multi-layered missile defense system