S Korea's Raybolt ATGM Set To Compete Against Israeli Spike, US Javelin

South Korea's Raybolt medium-range anti-tank guided missile (MR-ATGM) has passed quality tests and is planned for local procurement and export where it will compete against the US Lockheed Martin-made Javelin and the Israeli Rafael-made Spike-MR ATGMs.

The nation's arms procurement agency, Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) hopes to export the advanced Fire & Forget-type weapon, saying it's smaller and lighter, but more powerful and effective than similar foreign weaponry, such as Israel's Spike-MR and the US Javelin, Yonhap reported Thursday.

The live-fire test of the man-portable rocket system was successful, held at a Pocheon range, northeast of Seoul, DAPA said in a statement.

The Defense Agency for Technology and Quality also participated in the test of an actual product made by LIG Nex1, a local defense firm.

"The test this time is meaningful in that it has proven the superb quality of Hyungung, a anti-tank guided weapon developed with domestic technology," Kim In-sik, a DATQ official, said. "It will be a good benchmark for the future development of guided missiles."

South Korea developed the weapon, called Hyungung in Korean, in 2016 to replace 90mm/106mm recoilless rifles and TOW missiles in use by the nation's troops.

The Raybolt will be delivered to the military within this year, DAPA said.