L-SAM


The L-SAM is a South Korean long range surface-to-air and anti-ballistic missile system developed by the Agency for Defense Development, Hanwha, and LIG Nex1. The performance levels are comparable to the American THAAD and the Israeli Arrow 2 and Arrow 3. L-SAM serves as a key system in South Korea's Korean Air and Missile Defense.
The development of L-SAM Block 1 was officially completed in May 2024 and was declared fit for combat by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

Development and design

The L-SAM was developed with the aim of shooting down ballistic missiles such as North Korea's Hwasong-11A and Hwasong-11B in the terminal phase. It will be an upper-tier surface-to-air missile system for multi-layered defense as part of Republic of [Korea Air Force]'s Korean Air and Missile Defense project, which has been planned since the early 2020s, with the lower tier composed of Patriot PAC-3 and KM-SAM batteries.
The L-SAM system is expected to use two types of interceptors: one for anti-air meant to target general air breathing threats such as aircraft or cruise missiles and the other for anti-ballistic. The anti-ballistic missile consists of total of a three stages and uses a hit-to-kill system that intercepts targets with a kill vehicle that integrates an imaging infrared seeker and a divert attitude control system, and can intercept missiles approaching at an altitude of. L-SAM demonstrated its intercept capability by succeeding three out of a total of four missile interception tests between November 2022 and June 2023.
The development of L-SAM Block 1 was completed in May 2024, and initial mass production will begin in 2025 and will be deployed to the Republic of Korea Air Force from 2028.

Battery configuration

The L-SAM battery is composed of a multifunction radar, a command-and-control center, a combat control station, and four truck-mounted launchers, two of each missile type. It will use a trailer-mounted S-band AESA radar.

Improvements

Block 2

On 25 April 2023, the 153rd Defense Acquisition Program Promotion Committee deliberated and approved on a plan to develop a new missile defense system with a higher intercepting altitude than the existing L-SAM with a budget of 2.71 trillion won by 2027. The new missile system, named L-SAM 2, includes high-altitude interceptor missiles and glide phase interceptor missiles, and is estimated to have an interception altitude of 180 km.