Globally Competitive in War
South Korea has a number of globally competitive weapons besides the KF-21 Fighter Jet according to sources in the defense industry. In particular, the KF-21 is said to outperform the North Korean Air Force’s flagship fighter jet, the MIG 29, and is comparable to Europe’s next-generation fighter, the Eurofighter.
According to the Korea Institute of Industrial Economics and Trade’s Weapons Competitiveness Survey, 31 of South Korea’s 70 major weapons including LIG Nex1’s anti-tank weapon A2-1K Raybolt (Hyeonggung) were classified as world-class products. The survey says that after giving 100 points to world-class products from the United States and Germany, respondents selected Korean defense products, which deserve 90 points or higher.
The A2-1K Raybolt is similar in performance to the U.S. FGM-148 (Javelin) anti-tank missile, which has destroyed many Russian tanks and armored vehicles in the Ukraine-Russia war. But the price of the A2-1K Raybolt is one-third of that of the Javelin. The A2-1K Raybolt scored between 106 and 107 points, higher than the U.S.’ Javelin (100 points). Korean company Poongsan’s 5.56-7.62 mm small-caliber ammunition (104-105 points) and 120-155 mm large-caliber ammunition (100 points) were also rated as world class. High points were given to Hanwha Aerospace’s K-9 self-propelled howitzer (99 points) and Redback armored personnel carrier (95 points), and KAI’s FA-50 light attack aircraft (94 points).
Korean defense products’ biggest strength is the fact that they are unrivaled in a price war. The world’s highest quality K-9 self-propelled howitzer is estimated to cost between 4 billion and 5 billion won per unit. This is only 20 to 30 percent of the price (18-20 billion won) of the PzH2000, a German-made self-propelled gun with similar performance.
Korean defense contractors are excellent in production capacity, too. Poland and other European countries are anxious to quickly fill power vacuums created by their support for Ukraine. Hyundai delivered five K-2 tanks to Poland in March, three months ahead of schedule.
However, South Korea’s main defense products are still concentrated in conventional weapons with low added value. Between 30 and 60 percent of the exports of the major defense powers such as the United States and France are aircraft, including fighter jets with high added value. That of South Korea is about 10 percent.