Chiron KP-SAM / KPSAM
New Bow (Shingung / Shingoong)
Korean Man-Portable Air Defense System (K-MANPAD)

The New Bow (Shingung, Shin-Gung or Shin-Kung, possibly God's Bow or Divine Bow) is a shoulder-launched missile targeting helicopters, or low-flying fighter and transport aircraft. The KP-SAM [Janes reported it was redesignated as the NEX1 Future Chiron], is a two-man, fire and forget system that is fired in the same way as the Mistral, which is mounted on a tripod. The 10 kilogram missile features an integral Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system, full night and adverse weather capabilities, and a two-color infrared seeker to aid in negating countermeasures. It has a 7 km maximum target range and flies at a maximum altitude of 3.5 km and maximum speed of Mach 2.1.

Artillery rockets impose a difficult challenge for any air defense system, being relatively low signature, fast moving targets. Typically, this weapon is launched in salvos, requiring the defending side to engage multiple targets simultaneously. At present there is no operational system dedicated for this kind of threat. There are several systems developed particularly to defend against medium and long range ballistic missiles, such as the Arrow, Thaad, and PAC-3 programs. These programs use large phased array radars that are capable of detecting multiple targets at long ranges, and sophisticated missiles equipped with on-board seekers that are used during the end-game phase of the interception. Korean Man-Portable Air Defense System (K-MANPAD) is the man portable surface-to-air missile system. K-MANPAD has a high hit probability for a fixed-wing or ratating-wing aircraft operating at low altitude. K-MANPAD’s warhead is exploded automatically and makes about several hundred fragments in order to destroy the eenmy aircraft as it approaches the aircraft clossely after fired. The 2-color IR(Infra-Red) detector is deployed to countermeasure jamming. K-MANPADs IFF(Identify Friend and Foe) system and night targeting system make K-MANPAD the world’s undisputed leader among portable surface-to-air missile.

With the help of modern technology, significant developments have taken place in weapons systems, creating more opportunities for terrorists in terms of weapons and targets. The rapid absorption of new modern technologies by international community and our growing dependence on them have created many high-value targets, such as nuclear power stations and civil aircraft in flight. Similarly, developments in electronics and microelectronics, and the trend toward miniaturization and simplification have resulted in a greater availability of smaller weapons with longer ranges and more accuracy that are also simpler to operate.

One of the most impressive developments in individual weaponry is shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), what we call MANPADS, which are lightweight and easy to operate. They can usually be carried and operated by a single man. The US-made Stinger, the British-made Blowpipe and the former Soviet-made SA-7 missiles are examples. These are shoulder-fired, anti-aircraft missiles that have infra-red, heatseeking sensors in the projectile that guide it to the heat emitted from an aircraft engine.

There are three main types of MANPADS classified primarily by their guidance systems or "seekers:” 1) Infrared (IR) that hone in on an aircraft’s heat source, usually the engine’s exhaust plume; 2) Command Line-of-Sight (CLOS) whereby the MANPADS operator visually acquires the target aircraft using a magnified optical sight and then uses radio controls to guide the missile into the aircraft; 3) Laser Beam Riders in which the missile flies along the laser beam and strikes the aircraft where the operator has aimed the laser. Generally MANPADS have a range of up to 8,000 meters and a maximum altitude of around 4,000 meters.

Chiron is a portable surface-to-air weapon system developed to provide defense against low altitude aircraft and helicopter threats in major field forces. In comparison with Stinger in the US and IGLA in Russia, Chiron boasts higher accuracy at 90%.

The Singung is designed to automatically explode against a target flying within a radius of 1.5 m, shattering into hundreds of pieces while shooting down a target. It is mainly intended to bring down enemy aircraft and helicopter that infiltrate at low altitude. It boasts more than 90 percent-plus hit-ratio accuracy and comes at a unit price of W180 million. Only four countries including the United States, Russia and France, have that kind of portable surface-to-air missile systems. According to the Defense Ministry, the missile is lighter and more accurate than the Stinger missile of the U.S., Russia's Igla and France's Mistral.

The KP-SAM program was originally aimed at developing a new man-portable SAM for the protection of troops in the foreword area. However, by 2003 the delivery of the Igla SAMs from Russia in payment for Russian debts to Korea appear to have solved the problem. The primary difference between the Russian Igla system and the KP-SAM is the IFF system mounted forward of the launcher.

Development of the Chiron (Singung) man-portable surface-to-air missiles system (MANPADS SAM) is believed to have commenced during 1995 when the system was then known as the KP-SAM. The portable anti-aircraft missile Singung was developed by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD)over eight years starting in 1995 with a W70 billion [$71 million] budget. In late 2005 it entered service with the South Korean Army, after being in development for nearly 8 years. The South Korean Army had ordered some 2000 units to be delivered by LG Innotek Co. Ltd.

Series production was expected to commence during 2004, with deployment and IOC during the same year, however, extended trials meant that the system was not ready for series production and deployment before September 2005. Trials during the research and development phase were carried out using both fixed and rotary wing targets. The program was originally aimed at developing a new man-portable SAM for the protection of troops in the foreword area. The seeker technology was Russian, from the Leningrad Optical Mechanical Association (LOMO) but that the control section, warhead and motor were of a South Korean design.