What Air-to-Air Missiles Does Korea's Air Force Operate?

At a presidential policy briefing by the Ministry of National Defense and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) on Dec. 18 last year, President Lee Jae-myung posed an unexpected question: "Why didn't we develop an air-to-air missile while developing the (KF-21) fighter jet?" Senior officials from the Ministry of National Defense, DAPA, and the Agency for Defense Development could not hide their dismay. Both inside and outside the military, concerns have persistently been raised that relying on foreign suppliers for the air-to-air missiles, the core combat capability of the KF-21, could create a capability gap.

As medium- and long-range guided missile technology developed rapidly after the Vietnam War, modern air combat has been reshaped around missiles. As a result, the importance of air-to-air missiles is growing further as a core capability that determines victory or defeat between fourth- and fifth-generation fighter jets.

An air-to-air missile is a guided weapon launched from a fighter jet to intercept enemy aircraft. It is classified into short-range, medium-range, and long-range air-to-air missiles depending on its range. The Republic of Korea Air Force currently operates a variety of air-to-air missiles.

A representative short-range air-to-air missile is the AIM-9 Sidewinder. The name "Sidewinder" comes from the rattlesnake that inhabits the American desert. It originates from the way its flight trajectory resembles a snake's movement, and the way it strikes its target by following the enemy aircraft's infrared signature, much as a snake tracks its prey.

Its guidance method detects and tracks the exhaust heat (infrared) generated by the enemy fighter's engine using a seeker mounted in the warhead. The nose carries a seeker that detects enemy aircraft and auxiliary fins that enhance maneuverability, while the tail carries fins that maintain flight stability.

The early version could only attack from behind an enemy aircraft, but the AIM-9L variant, produced from 1977, applied a seeker capable of detecting even the heat generated by friction between the airframe and the air, enabling head-on engagement as well. The maximum range of the improved version currently in operation reaches approximately 30km.

The AIM-9 series is one of the most-produced air-to-air missiles in the world, and is mounted on most of the fighter jets operated by Korea's Air Force. The Korean fighter jet KF-21 operates the IRIS-T (AIM-2000) short-range air-to-air missile, developed by a German-led European consortium. It is the latest short-range guided missile equipped with an infrared seeker, with a maximum range of about 25km.

For Korea's Air Force, it is mounted on the Korean supersonic fighter KF-21 "Boramae." In May 2024, a KF-21 prototype succeeded in the first live firing of the Meteor missile. It became the world's fourth fighter jet to succeed in a Meteor live firing, following the Eurofighter, Rafale, and Gripen.

The Air Force currently operates two types of medium-range air-to-air missiles. The representative model is the U.S.-made AIM-120 AMRAAM. Commonly called "AMRAAM," the name is an acronym for "Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile."

Missiles are generally known to detect, track, and intercept their targets on their own after launch, but few missiles possess such capability. The AIM-120 AMRAAM's biggest characteristic is its "Fire and Forget" capability, which adopts active radar guidance to detect and track targets with its own radar.

Even after launch, it can continuously receive the latest target information from the fighter's fire control system via data link and revise its flight path. It also has electronic warfare functions to counter enemy jamming, securing high survivability and accuracy.

In the terminal phase, the active radar mounted on the missile directly tracks and intercepts the target. For this reason, after launching the missile, the pilot does not need to keep aiming at the target and can immediately perform evasive maneuvers or other missions, which is evaluated to have greatly improved survivability.

The AMRAAM flies at a maximum speed of Mach 4. It underwent continuous performance improvements from the A variant to the C variant, and from the C-5 variant, improved software and propellant performance extended the maximum range to about 100km. The latest C-7 variant strengthened electronic warfare countermeasures and has a maximum range of about 120km.

Another medium-range air-to-air missile is the AIM-7 Sparrow. Its name comes from "Sparrow," meaning the bird. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Air Force mounted it on F-4 Phantom fighter jets and deployed it in combat, but the early version had low reliability and a considerable number of cases of failure to fire, drawing criticism as a result.

The Sparrow uses semi-active radar guidance. The launching fighter must continuously illuminate the target with its radar to guide the missile until it hits. Later, as the AIM-120 AMRAAM entered service, it handed over its place as the main medium-range air-to-air missile. In Korea's Air Force, the F-4, F-15K, and KF-16 have operated or do operate the AIM-7 Sparrow.

As a long-range air-to-air missile, the Air Force operates the Meteor. Named after a "meteor," it was developed to shoot down enemy fighters beyond visual range. It is mounted and operated on the Eurofighter Typhoon, France's Rafale, and Sweden's Gripen fighter jets.

By applying ducted rocket technology, it raised its range of 50km to over 200km. This performance is thanks to a ramjet propulsion system that applies ducted rocket technology, and among air-to-air missiles it can intercept targets across the widest area from any direction.

Flying at the high speed of Mach 4, the Meteor missile minimized the escape zone in which enemy aircraft could evade the air-to-air missile. By applying the latest data link technology, it was designed to immediately reflect the constantly changing movements of enemy aircraft for accurate interception.

The active radar seeker mounted on the front of the missile was built to target the interception of highly maneuverable fighters, small unmanned aircraft, and even cruise missiles. The air forces of major European nations have adopted the Meteor air-to-air missile as a core weapon of their fighter jets.

It is mounted and operated on the Eurofighter, Rafale, and Gripen fighter jets. It is also slated for use on the F-35, widely known as a stealth fighter. Japan is also reported to be planning to develop a new medium-range air-to-air missile based on the Meteor missile's ducted rocket.