Development began in 2007 and began in earnest in 2010, as South Korea's existing anti-tank guided missiles were reaching the end of their 25-year service life. LIG Nex1's priorities during development were world-class performance, weight, export competitiveness through localization of core components, cost-efficiency, and reliability. The development was not completely smooth, and for the first five years there were several failures with "Captive Flight Tests". In a retrospective on the development of the Raybolt, one engineer assessed the greatest challenge as quality assurance. The Raybolt was developed to replace obsolete anti-tank weapons, such as recoilless rifles and TOW missiles. South Korea's 1970s-vintage TOW missiles lacked tandem-warheads and would not be able to destroy modern North Korean tanks equipped with explosive reactive armor. The Raybolt is produced by LIG Nex1 in cooperation with South Korea's Agency for Defense Development, under the auspices of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. About 95% of the Raybolt is made in South Korea. The Raybolt underwent successful test evaluations in Saudi Arabia in December 2013 and January 2014. The Raybolt contract is expected to be worth 1 trillion won through till 2023.
Components
The Raybolt's most notable feature is an imaging infrared seeker providing fire-and-forget capability. It also has a tandem-warhead and both direct attack and top attack modes. The Raybolt uses a smokeless propellant and can be fired from within a building. The Raybolt missile and Observation and Launch Unit can either be vehicle-mounted or carried as a manpack by two men. There are also discussions to mount the Raybolt on helicopters. The OLU has day/night capability via a thermal sight. The missile uses a soft launch to escape the barrel before activating the main flight motor. It is scheduled to be acquired over the 2018-2022 timeframe. The Raybolt system weight about, which its manufacturer describes as lighter than peers. The Raybolt's range is 2.5 or 3 km. The Raybolt's HEATtandem warhead can penetrate 900 mm of RHA beyond defeating ERA, which is described as "excellent performance" by DAPA. The Raybolt has been marketed to India. Park Tae-sik, senior manager at LIG Nex1, also reports interest from South America. The missile can be carried by a two-man crew or fitted to fire from vehicles. The South Korean Army uses an anti-tank version of the Kia Motors 4×4 Light Tactical Vehicle called the K-153C; the roof is equipped with a launcher turret with two missiles ready to fire and four additional missiles carried inside the vehicle.
