Hycore Flight Test Programme Due for Completion in 2023
As tensions with Pyongyang continue, South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development (ADD) has revealed it is working on a technology demonstrator for a ground-launched hypersonic cruise missile project. A model of the demonstrator, somewhat similar in appearance to the Boeing X-51A Waverider, was unveiled by the ADD and Hanwha on 3 December, during a Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) event.
Dubbed Hycore, the 8.7m-long demonstrator will weigh 2.4t, feature both a two-stage rocket booster and a scramjet engine, and reach a speed of Mach 6.2 during its second booster stage, according to ADD. Local newspaper Biz.Hankook reported that a first test flight is slated for later this year, but noted the demonstrator, developed in co-operation with several other companies and research institutes, will not be equipped with a warhead and seekers but rather with a range of sensors designed to collect data from the flight tests, which are expected to be completed by 2023.
South Korea first announced its intention to develop hypersonic weapons in August 2020, when then Defence Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo was quoted by the Yonhap News Agency as saying that his country’s military would accelerate its push to develop new missiles amid growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea. “Our military will accelerate our technology development on guided weapons system with precise guide function, long-range and hypersonic missiles, high-power warheads, and Korean-style satellite navigation system to further advance our missile capabilities,” said Jeong during an event to mark the ADD’s 50th anniversary.
The latest developments come as neighbouring North Korea has so far conducted three tests of what it claimed to be hypersonic missile systems. In late September 2021, Pyongyang tested the Hwasong-8, a weapon that appears to follow a boost-glide vehicle design, consisting of at least two stages, with a glide vehicle mounted atop a large boost stage.
This was followed by tests on 5 and 11 January of a new missile type equipped with a manoeuvrable re-entry vehicle (MaRV). The US and its allies have refrained from referring to these weapons as hypersonic missiles, with the Ministry of National Defense (MND) in Seoul adding that South Korean air defence systems can intercept both of these new missile types.
North and South Korea have both unveiled multiple new weapon systems in recent months. The fast pace of missile developments is fuelling concerns about an accelerating arms race on the Korean Peninsula, with an associated increased risk of miscalculation.
Gabriel Dominguez for MON
