| AT-1K Raybolt | |
|---|---|
AT-1K Raybolt launcher mounted on K153C1 light tactical vehicle
| |
| Type | Anti-tank guided missile |
| Place of origin | South Korea |
| Service history | |
| Used by | See Operators |
| Wars | Yemeni Civil War[1] Second Nagorno-Karabakh War[2] |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Agency for Defense Development Hanwha Defense (launcher) LIG Nex1 (missile) |
| Designed | 2007–2015[3] |
| Manufacturer | Hanwha Vision (launcher) LIG Nex1 (missile) |
| Produced | 2017–present |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | Include launcher: 20 kg (44 lb) Missile: 13 kg (29 lb) |
| Crew |
|
| Maximum firing range | 2,500 m (1.6 mi) – 3,000 m (1.9 mi) (observed) |
| Sights | Thermal weapon sight |
| Warhead | HEAT |
Detonation | Contact fuze |
| Blast yield | 900 mm (35 in) RHA behind ERA |
| Maximum speed | Mach 1.7 (578 m/s; 2,080 km/h)[4] |
Guidance | fire-and-forget-aided Infrared guidance |
Launch | Man-portable launcher |
| Transport |
|
The AT-1K Raybolt (Korean: 현궁 "Hyeon-gung",[5] Hanja: 晛弓) is a South Korean man-portable third-generation anti-tank guided missile built by LIG Nex1. It has fire-and-forget capability using an infrared imaging seeker and has a tandem-warhead to defeat explosive reactive armor. The Raybolt has a top attack and direct attack modes.[6][7] It is the first ATGM to be built by South Korea and entered mass production in June 2017.
The Raybolt is positioned by its manufacturer as a competitor and peer with the American FGM-148 Javelin and Israeli Spike-MR ATGMs.[8]
The Raybolt was first shown publicly at the Indodefence 2014 exhibition.[9]
Development began in 2007 and began in earnest in 2010, as South Korea's existing anti-tank guided missiles were reaching the end of their 25-year service life.[10] LIG Nex1's priorities during development were world-class performance, weight, export competitiveness through localization of core components, cost-efficiency, and reliability. The development was not completely smooth, and for the first five years there were several failures with "Captive Flight Tests". In a retrospective on the development of the Raybolt, one engineer assessed the greatest challenge as quality assurance.[11] On May 30, 2017, successfully completed the quality certification test of Raybolt organized by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).[12]
The Raybolt was developed to replace obsolete anti-tank weapons, such as recoilless rifles and TOW missiles.[13] South Korea's 1970s-vintage TOW missiles lacked tandem-warheads and would not be able to destroy modern North Korean tanks equipped with explosive reactive armor (ERA).[13]
The Raybolt is produced by LIG Nex1 in cooperation with South Korea's Agency for Defense Development (ADD), under the auspices of the DAPA.[11] About 95% of the Raybolt is made in South Korea.[14]
The Raybolt underwent successful test evaluations in Saudi Arabia in December 2013 and January 2014.[11] The Raybolt contract is expected to be worth 1 trillion won through till 2023.[14]
The Raybolt's most notable feature is an imaging infrared seeker providing fire-and-forget capability. It also has a tandem-warhead and both direct attack and top attack modes. The Raybolt uses a smokeless propellant and can be fired from within a building. The Raybolt missile and Observation and Launch Unit (OLU) can either be vehicle-mounted or carried as a manpack by two men. There are also discussions to mount the Raybolt on helicopters. The OLU has day/night capability via a thermal sight.[6][7][11] The missile uses a soft launch to escape the barrel before activating the main flight motor.[10] It is scheduled to be acquired over the 2018-2022 timeframe.[13]
The Raybolt system weight about 20 kg (44 lb),[13] which its manufacturer describes as lighter than peers.[8] The Raybolt's range is 2.5[15] or 3 km.[14] The Raybolt's HEAT tandem warhead can penetrate 900 mm of RHA beyond defeating ERA,[16] which is described as "excellent performance" by DAPA.[13]
The Raybolt has been marketed to India.[17] Park Tae-sik, senior manager at LIG Nex1, also reports interest from South America.[10]
The missile can be carried by a two-man crew or fitted to fire from vehicles. The South Korean Army uses an anti-tank version of the Kia Motors 4×4 Light Tactical Vehicle (LTV) called the K-153C; the roof is equipped with a launcher turret with two missiles ready to fire and four additional missiles carried inside the vehicle.[15]
The Raybolt was delivered to the Republic of Korea Armed Forces in 2017.[13] It will be used by the Korean Army and the ROK Marine Corps.[11]
In 2018, the Raybolt was used in the Yemeni Civil War by Saudi-backed forces against the Houthis.[1][18]
|
| |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Handguns |
| ||||||||||
| Rifles |
| ||||||||||
| Shotguns |
| ||||||||||
| Submachine guns |
| ||||||||||
| Machine guns |
| ||||||||||
| Ordnance |
| ||||||||||
| Cartridges |
| ||||||||||
A Standard service firearms • B Designated firearms for special forces units • C Designated firearms for rearguard units and war reserve stocks | |||||||||||
