Raybolt

The LIG Nex1 Raybolt (Korean: 현궁 "Hyungung") is a South Korean man-portable third-generation anti-tank guided missile built by LIG Nex1. It has fire-and-forget capability using an imaging infrared seeker and has a tandem-warhead to defeat explosive reactive armor. The Raybolt has a top attack and direct attack modes.[1] It is the first ATGM to be built by South Korea and entered mass production in June 2017.

The Raybolt is positioned by its manufacturer as a competitor and peer with the American FGM-148 Javelin and Israeli Spike-MR ATGMs.[2]

Development

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.[3] LIG Nex1's priorities during development were world-class performance, weight, export competitiveness through localization of core components, cost-efficiency, and reliability.[4] The development was not completely smooth, and for the first five years there were several failures with "Captive Flight Tests".[4] In a retrospective on the development of the Raybolt, one engineer assessed the greatest challenge as quality assurance.[4]

The Raybolt was developed to replace obsolete anti-tank weapons, such as recoilless rifles and TOW missiles.[5] 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 (ERA).[5]

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 (DAPA).[1] About 95% of the Raybolt is made in South Korea.[6]

The Raybolt underwent successful test evaluations in Saudi Arabia in December 2013 and January 2014.[4]

Features

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.[1] The Raybolt uses a smokeless propellant and can be fired from within a building.[1] The Raybolt missile and Observation and Launch Unit (OLU) can either be vehicle-mounted or carried as a manpack by two men.[1] There are also discussions to mount the Raybolt on helicopters.[4] The OLU has day/night capability via a thermal sight.[1] The missile uses a soft launch to escape the barrel before activating the main flight motor.[3] It is scheduled to be acquired over the 2018-2022 timeframe.[5]

The Raybolt system weight about 20 kg (44 lb),[5] which its manufacturer describes as lighter than peers.[2] The Raybolt's range is unspecified[1] (believed to be 2.5 km),[7] but is less than that of the TOW missile, which has a range of 3.75 km for most variants.[5] The Raybolt's can penetrate 900 mm of RHA after HEAT,[8] which is described as "excellent performance" by DAPA.[5]

The Raybolt has been marketed to the UAE[9] and India.[10] Park Tae-sik, senior manager at LIG Nex1, also reports interest from South America.[3]

The missile can be man-portable or fitted to fire from vehicles. The South Korean Army uses an anti-tank version of the Kia Motors 4×4 Light Tactical Vehicle (LTV) 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.[7]

Operational history

The Raybolt was delivered to the Republic of Korea Armed Forces in 2017.[5] It will be used by the Korean Army and the ROK Marine Corps.[4] In 2018, the Raybolt was used in the Yemeni Civil War by Saudi-backed forces against the Houthis.[11]

Operators

Launch platforms

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Medium Range Infantry Missile Raybolt" (PDF). www.lignex1.com. 26 September 2016.
  2. 1 2 "S Korea's Raybolt ATGM Set To Compete Against Israeli Spike, US Javelin". www.defenseworld.net. 2 June 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 Lee Seok-jong (22 October 2014). "빛과 같은 화살로 날아가 '꽝'대전차 임무 지형도가 바뀐다". kookbang.dema.mil.kr (in Korean).
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Medium Range Infantry Missile Raybolt" (PDF). LIG Nex1 Magazine (in Korean). January/February 2014. pp. 6–15. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dagyum Ji (1 June 2017). "Seoul to mass-produce indigenous anti-tank guided missile: DAPA". NK News.
  6. ↑ Arthur, Gordon (7 December 2016). "Korea ignites Raybolt missile". www.shephardmedia.com.
  7. 1 2 South Korean Raybolt ATGM missile in service with Saudi Arabia army. Army Recognition. 1 October 2018.
  8. ↑ Kelvin Wong (12 September 2018). "DX Korea 2018: RoKA unveils 4×4 K-153C ATGM carrier - Jane's 360". Jane's International Defence Review.
  9. ↑ David Donald (21 February 2017). "Korean missile partnership [IDEX17D4]". Jane's 360.
  10. ↑ "True Dream Partner - LIG Nex1". www.lignex1.com. 28 March 2016.
  11. 1 2 Jeremy Binnie (26 June 2018). "South Korean Raybolt spotted in Yemen". IHS Jane's Defence Weekly.
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