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Chiron MANPADS

Ukraine’s anti-air weaponry got a boost with South Korea’s Chiron man-portable air defence system (MANPADS). South Korea sent the weapons to the Czech Republic which in turn will send them to Ukraine, reports Czech publication iDnes.cz on October 4, 2022. The weapons will be paid for by the US in what iDnes.cz reports to be a nearly $3 billion “secret” deal. The weapons will primarily include the South Korean Chiron (KP-SAM Shingung) MANPADS,

Produced by the South Korean aerospace and defense company, LIG Nex1, the Chiron MANPADS is intended to protect troops in the forward area from low-flying threats. Known in South Korea as ‘Shingung,’ it is marketed internationally as Chiron. The development of the system began in 1995, and it entered service in South Korea in 2005. Apart from that, the Chiron is also used by the armed forces of Indonesia and Peru.

The MANPADS can be used to destroy fixed-wing aircraft, rotary-wing aircraft, helicopters, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and cruise missiles from around seven kilometers. Its probability of hitting non-maneuvering targets is said to be 90%. The Chiron’s surface-to-air missile (SAM) features an integrated friend or foe (IFF) system. It is equipped with a two-color (IR/UV) seeker, which enables the missile to negate the impact of infrared countermeasures (IRCM) employed by low-flying aircraft.

Furthermore, the missiles are said to have anti-electronic warfare capabilities to keep functioning, despite jamming. This would be a very advanced high-tier air defense system for Ukraine, and Kyiv’s interest in the system is understandable. The forward-deployed medium and long-range air defenses force the enemy fighter jets to fly at altitudes below 4500 meters, right into the range of the man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS). Without these, the MANPADS will be rendered useless.

This weapon is very convenient, because it can both be located on cars or ships, and work without a stand, "from hand". In general, a Chiron MANPADS is usually handled by a calculation of one or two people. The target can be caught using a thermal imager, which is available at the installation. The latter, by the way, weighs only 24.3 kg, which is very important in the context of the rapid movement of fighters. Also, an indisputable advantage of such a complex is the "friend or foe" recognition system, thanks to which not a single Ukrainian combat "bird" will suffer. But Russian planes and helicopters obviously can not say hello.

The missile, which is used in the Chiron MANPADS, reaches a length of 1.68 m. Its weight is 19.5 kg, and its diameter is 80 mm. It is effective in closer combat, because it can hit a target from 500 meters to 5 km. The maximum firing range of this complex is 7 km. Targets can be hit at an altitude of up to 3.5 km.

According to South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development, the missile is superior to the American FIM-92 Stinger and the French Mistral in hit probability, price, and portability, making it invaluable in the field.

The Chiron will be the latest addition to Ukraine’s ever-growing arsenal of MANPADS that has played a significant role in the ongoing Ukraine war. Russia and Ukraine have employed MANPADS to a great extent in their air-denial strategy against each other. For example, Russia’s Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, Oleg Salyukov, said in an interview on September 30 that one-third of Ukrainian fighter jets were shot down using Igla-S and Verba MANPADS.

Also, a retired-Russian fighter pilot admitted the effectiveness of Ukrainian MANPADS in a recent interview with EurAsian Times. “Most of our Su-35s, Su-24s, and Su-34s have been hit while flying at low altitudes,” a retired Russian pilot told EurAsian Times, who requested anonymity.

Therefore, since the onset of the war in February 2022, thousands of MANPADS of different types from several countries have been supplied to the Ukrainian forces across the country, with more on their way. For example, the US government has committed to providing Ukraine with over 1,400 Stinger anti-aircraft systems.

Likewise, the South Korean Chiron MANPADS was also sought after by Ukraine for a long time. However, Seoul was unwilling to supply the system because of South Korea’s “principled stance” on not providing lethal military equipment to the war-torn country. In April 2022, South Korea reportedly turned down a Ukrainian request for the anti-aircraft system. The request was made by the Ukrainian defense minister Oleksiy Reznikov in a call with his South Korean counterpart Suh Wook.

However, “Minister Suh politely repeated the South Korean government’s principled stance that its aid is confined to non-lethal materials,” a South Korean defense ministry official told This Week in Asia. Shortly after that, President Zelensky also appealed to the South Korean lawmakers for arms, citing the country’s national history by recalling how the international community helped South Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War. “South Korea has various weapons that are required to protect us from Russian tanks, ships, and missiles,” Zelensky said through an interpreter. “Please help us to stand up against invaders,” he said in his appeal.

It appears that Seoul finally decided to accommodate Ukraine’s request, albeit through indirect means. However, Ukraine’s request was not confined to the Chiron MANPADS, according to Kim Jong-dae, a military expert and former lawmaker of the pro-labor Justice Party, who said that Ukraine wanted South Korea’s Cheongung II midrange surface-to-air missiles (M-SAM) system. The Cheongung II SAMs are based on the technology from the 9M96 missile used on Russian S-350E and S-400 missile systems. The missile can engage incoming enemy aircraft and ballistic missiles at an altitude below 40 kilometers.

In October 2022 it was reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine would be supplied with the latest portable anti-aircraft missile systems KP-SAM (Shingung), better known in the world under the name Chiron. South Korea plans to supply Ukraine with weapons worth 2.9 billion dollars, but the country's authorities do not want to make the deliveries directly, but will transfer the weapons through the Czech Republic. This was reported by the Czech publication Mladá fronta DNES.

Observers point out that Ukraine needs new supplies of weapons to carry out a counteroffensive, and the Czech Republic can play a key role in this. The financing of the deliveries will be carried out by the USA, and the weapons themselves will be delivered to a Czech defense company, which will donate them to Ukraine.

At the same time, the Minister of Defense of the Czech Republic, Yana Chornokhova, in her comments, refused to elaborate on military aid, emphasizing only that supplies to Ukraine continue. "I don't want to comment on the speculations that have appeared in the mass media regarding the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Aid to Ukraine from the Czech Republic continues. For security reasons, as I said earlier, we will not specify it," Chornokhova said.

So far, the Czech Republic had sent approximately $157 million in military aid to Ukraine. According to the Czech news site Novinky.cz, before that, the US Congress approved a package of military support for the Czech Republic in the amount of 100 million dollars for the modernization of the army. "We consider this gift as an expression of gratitude for how the Czech Republic has been helping Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict and how responsible we are for our safety and the safety of our allies," Chernokhova said.