[Exclusive] ’Secret weapons account for 30% of LIG Nex1 sales’

Hyunmoo

By Lee Tae-hoon

LIG Nex1, one of the country’s top three defense contractors, researches and develops, and produces a “classified arsenal” worth 300 billion won ($268 million) annually, an industry source said Thursday.

“Secret weapons account for 30 percent of the company’s gross sales, which can be translated to about 300 billion won,” the source familiar with the production of classified projects said asking for anonymity.

Sales by LIG Nex1 were the second highest in the country in 2009 at 938.1 billion won, making it one of the world’s top 100 arms manufacturers, according to figures from the Korea Defense Industry Association (KDIA).

The source said LIG Nex1 is expected to commence development of a new supersonic cruise missile, which has yet to have its own code-name, with the state-run Agency for Defense Development.

LIG Nex1 developed the Hyunmoo III, a cruise missile that reportedly has a maximum range of 1,500 kilometers.

The Hyunmoo III, whose development process was kept under wraps, is believed to have been designed to be fired from destroyers or submarines with vertical launch systems.

LIG Nex1, the nation’s leading precision weapons maker, has also been developing a supersonic ship-to-surface cruise missile, the Haeseong II, capable of evading North Korea’s defense systems and striking targets with a high degree of accuracy, according to multiple sources.

“All I can say about Haeseong II is that it will be able to fly faster than Mach 1,” a senior official at the state-run Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) told The Korea Times.

A senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that Haeseong II is a supersonic modification of the anti-ship Haeseong I.

South Korea has been reluctant to disclose information about the development of advanced cruise missiles.

Under a bilateral pact with Washington, Seoul is prohibited from developing ballistic missiles with a range of more than 300 kilometers and a payload of 500 kilograms.

It is allowed to extend the range of its cruise missiles without restriction, but remains cautious about any possible negative fallout of developing high-end weapons capable of striking neighboring nations.

According to an official of the National Assembly Defense Committee, the government has set aside more than 600 billion won for classified weapons, many of which have never been disclosed to the public, including their names.

“I have asked DAPA to come up with at least a list of names for secret projects, but it was to no avail,” he said.

He noted that only a few names of the weapons, including Hyunmoo, for which DAPA plans to inject another 321.4 billion won this year, up from 209.5 billion won in 2010, have been disclosed.

Korea plans to further upgrade the capabilities of the Hyunmoo III, including its range and accuracy, but details of its development have been kept secret.

According to a classified National Assembly report, the government has set aside 294 billion won for top secret military weapons this year, up from 265.9 billion won the previous year, without any parliamentary review.

Most of the projects are run directly by the presidential office.

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