Sunday, May 8, 2011

Korean LIG Nex1 submits proposal for sale of Chiron MANPADs to India


LIG Nex1 Co, a South Korean weapons manufacturer, has submitted a request to sell its man-portable air defence system (MANPADS) Chiron to India. The very short range anti-aircraft missile (VSHORAD) Chiron ((Named “Shin-Gung” means “God’s Bow” in Korea), is designed and manufactured with Korean technology and boasts of an accuracy rate of over 95 percent. First deployed in 2005, the 14.4 Kg missile has a range of 7 Kms and can operate at an altitude of 3.5 Kms.

Speaking to Frontier India, Minsu Kim, a Director of LIG Nex1 liaison office in Delhi said “It is great to have a chance to introduce our MANPAD solution, Chiron in India Market.”

The manufacturers say that the preperation time for launch of the missile in less than 3 seconds. The missile has a velocity greater than 700 meters / second. The weight of the warhead is 2.5 Kg and it uses 2 colour IR seeker. The Chiron MANPADs receives the target information from the sensor system and transmits the information of position and engagement status to the Target Data Receiver (TDR) which has GPS function built-in to the system. Based on the above target information the VSHORAD system is able to provide target information before the target is within the engagement distance of the MANPADs. This integration of the sensor and C3 system increases the kill probability of the Chiron MANPADs and also increases the effectiveness of the point air defines.

The Chiron MANPADs has a Pedestal type launcher, but it still has similar mobility as Shoulder Type’s by two crews members due to its light weight and compact size. The missile has an “arming key” to check unauthorized users such as terrorists.

On being asked about the strong comptetion from other established international companies, Minsu Kim said “we are banking on our quality. Our products are in use in Korean Peninsula which is always in a state of readiness.”

On long term outlook, Minsu Kim said “LIG Nex 1 is looking at other tenders and it is premature to comment about it now. LIG Nex1 is a strong total battle field solution provider and they will focus on their most specialty solutions such like Missiles, torpedos and Underwater surveilance systems in the first phase of Indian defence market development. LIG Nex1 is willing to invest in Indian market and confirm to Indian MoD DPP procedures, although the offset s will take some time as we are new to the market.”

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