LIG Nex1, an army and navy weapons systems developer, has successfully passed a quality certification test for its upgraded seeker system-installed surface-to-air guided missile Chiron, said the company on Sunday.

Under the supervision of the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality and financial support from the Agency for Defense Development, LIG Nex1 added to the Chiron a Korean-made seeker system, which acts as the eyes and brain of the missile, as it locates its target by detecting infrared energy. 

Work on the upgraded missile started in 2010 with 20 engineers and cost 15 billion won ($12.6 million) in total.

With its upgraded missile technology, LIG Nex1 plans to jump into the estimated $2.2 billion portable air guided missiles markets, expanding its presence in the global market, said company officials.

Furthermore, the upgraded product is expected to generate 60 billion-won worth of import substitution. With the installation of the Korean-made seeker system, 95 percent of the components of the Chiron are now Korean-made, an increase from the previous 50 percent.

Meanwhile, the current business scale of Chiron, which provides defense against low-altitude aircrafts, is worth a total of 1 trillion won.

By Lee Seo-young (seoyounglee@heraldcorp.com)