News has emerged that "Cheonryong," a next-generation long-range air-to-surface missile being developed with domestic technology, has succeeded in a flight test. According to the defense industry, a technical flight test of the long-range air-to-surface missile "Cheonryong" was successfully conducted on June 25. Going forward, it will be mounted on the Korean fighter jet "KF-21" and others, serving as a key weapons system for precision strikes on enemy core facilities from long range.
Earlier, in January and March, technical flight tests were conducted by mounting one Cheonryong missile prototype on the domestic light attack aircraft FA-50, but they failed. Immediately after separation, the engine's airborne ignition was not completed normally, so the engine was remotely emergency-shut down, dropping the missile into the West Sea. A technical flight test is a procedure to evaluate whether a missile separated from a fighter jet flies normally after engine ignition.
Although the missile prototype fell into the West Sea due to two emergency shutdowns, there were reportedly no casualties. After much anxiety, in the test conducted again on the 25th at the Air Force's 3rd Training Fighter Wing, the missile prototype mounted on the FA-50 separated from the fighter jet, ignited its engine, and flew normally, finally bringing the technical flight test to a successful conclusion.
The long-range air-to-surface missile development project aims to develop a Korean missile that, mounted on the KF-21, can precisely strike key military facilities in the enemy's rear from long range in the early stages of war. The introduction of Germany's MBDA Taurus missile is the first phase of the project, while domestic development is classified as the second phase. Development is to be completed by 2028, with mass production beginning in 2029 and deployment in the early 2030s.
The German-made Taurus is equipped with the Mephisto intelligent warhead system. It penetrates 6 meters of underground reinforced concrete with multiple layers of space and then detonates at the optimal point. It weighs 1.4 tons, has a warhead weight of 480 kg, and a range of 500 km. With performance superior to the British "Storm Shadow" missile, it is called a monster missile.
The Korean Taurus "Cheonryong," developed with domestic technology as the final piece of the "Korean three-axis system," is a weapons system with performance similar to or improved over the German Taurus. It is a "bunker buster" capability aimed at striking the North Korean leadership. The Air Force believes it needs up to about 600 air-to-surface missiles, and as the 260 imported from Germany are insufficient, 300 to 400 are being developed with domestic technology.
Cheonryong is designed to enable complex precision guidance. In particular, equipped with image and terrain matching and terminal guidance functions, it can deliver pinpoint precision strikes within a margin of error of 1 to 2 meters. Because it flies at low altitude, it is difficult for enemy radar to detect. Unlike the Taurus, its bulky fuselage has been refined into a stealth shape. Special coatings have even been applied to greatly reduce the probability of detection by enemy radar.
Although it weighs about the same as the Taurus, it can fly farther to strike. Flying with a jet engine, it can achieve a higher level of subsonic flight than the Taurus. While the Taurus is fueled just before flight, Cheonryong can be stored fueled for 5 to 10 years, shortening fighter jet sortie preparation time and allowing emergency deployment in urgent situations to raise mission success rates.
A defining feature is that it is designed by fusing the advantages of the Taurus missile and the U.S. "AGM-158 JASSM" in terms of performance and design. Although an improved version of the Taurus, it has a range of over 600 km and penetration power at 90% of the original. Considering KF-21 mounting, its size, weight, and length are also reduced. Thanks to this, it can also be mounted on all existing Air Force fighters, including the FA-50 light attack aircraft, KF-16, and F-15K.
Above all, the "penetrating warhead" function for striking underground bunkers is to be significantly strengthened — the so-called "bunker buster" role. Once Cheonryong is deployed in actual combat, it will, together with surface-to-surface cruise missiles fired from the ground, ship-to-surface missiles fired from ships, and submarine-to-surface missiles fired from submarines, serve as a game changer in striking the North Korean military command from the early stages of war without relying on U.S. strategic assets.
