Cruise Missile Arsenal: South Korea’s LIG Nex1 Demonstrates new Line of Cruise Missiles at ADEX 2025

The South Korean defense company LIG Nex1 demonstrated a new line of cruise missiles at ADEX 2025, including three anti-ship/multi-purpose models: L-MSM, L-MCM and SASM.

This was reported by Naval News.

The company positions the L-MSM, L-MCM and SASM missiles as its own development with a high level of autonomy, modularity and network capabilities, capable of competing in the global arms market.

The L-MSM (Modular Smart Missile) is the smallest of the three: a multi-purpose air-to-air missile weighing about 113 kg and measuring approximately 3 meters long. The L-MSM is designed for mass deployment from various platforms, from KF-21 fighters and FA-50 trainers to unmanned aerial vehicles.

The key feature is the modular nose section: it can be equipped with a warhead, electronic warfare module or communication repeater, which allows the missiles to be combined in a ‘swarm’ for different missions.

According to reports, the flight duration exceeds 30 minutes, the range is estimated at 300-500 km, and the guidance is provided by an IIR homing head. According to the plan, prototypes will be built in 2026, with ground tests starting in 2028.

The middle variant, the L-MCM (Multi-Purpose Cruise Missile), already weighs 454 kg and is available in ground or anti-ship strike versions. It is positioned as a network-oriented platform with increased survivability and the ability to avoid interception through maneuvers. For guidance, a combination of IIR and CMOS image sensors is declared; the warhead is a penetrating high explosive warhead.

According to LIG Nex1, research and ground tests of the L-MCM will continue until 2029, after which flight tests are planned.

And the third and largest missile variant is SASM, a supersonic air-to-surface missile, formerly known as Air-to-Ship Missile II. The company presents SASM as a multi-purpose supersonic system designed for anti-ship missions with the ability to strike ground targets.

As for the characteristics, they have not been publicly announced, but the very appearance of this missile may be of interest to potential buyers.

Earlier, Militarnyi reported that South Korea had tested a new cruise missile for FA-50 light fighters.

The new cruise missile, known as the KALCM Cheonryong (lit. Celestial Dragon), is designed to be used with new models of Korean aircraft, including the FA-50 Block 20 and KF-21 aircraft.