Umkhonto

A South African vertically-launched surface-to-air missile family developed by Denel Dynamics for point and area air defense of warships and, in a land variant, ground forces. It uses infrared homing and has been exported to several African and Asian navies.

In service since 1999 · 4 operator countries

Compiled from public sources ·primary reference ↗ ·last verified 2026-07-02

km range

2.4

Mach

kg warhead

Procurement snapshot

Availability & export

National export licensing

Subject to South Africa export-control approval; verify eligibility with the manufacturer.

Channel: Direct commercial / G2G

Fielded & proven

Established · 4 operators

In service since 1999. Status: active.

Lifecycle cost (est.)

No public unit price to model from.

Interoperability

No standardised NATO calibre / datalink detected in public specs.

Derived guidance from public data — export regime by country of origin, lifecycle from the GAO ~30% acquisition rule. Verify eligibility, pricing and offsets with the manufacturer and your acquisition authority.

Full specifications

Performance

Speed, range, altitude and engagement capability.

Max speed (Mach) Maximum speed as a multiple of the speed of sound. Mach 2+ is typical for air-superiority fighters.: 2.4 Mach

Stronger than 48% of missiles
Range Maximum distance: ferry range for aircraft, operational range for vehicles, maximum engagement distance for missiles. Higher means more standoff or persistence.: 20 km

Stronger than 21% of missiles

Firepower

Armament, payload and guidance.

Warhead Warhead mass. Heavier generally means larger effect radius, at the cost of range.: 23 kg

Stronger than 31% of missiles
Warhead type Blast-fragmentation, shaped charge (HEAT), penetrator, thermobaric or nuclear-capable.: High-explosive fragmentation
Guidance How the weapon finds its target: inertial, GPS/GLONASS, active/semi-active radar, infrared, laser, TV, wire.: Infrared homing, Inertial mid-course

Physical

Dimensions, weight and crew.

Length Overall length including gun/probe where applicable.: 3.32 m
Combat weight Fully loaded weight. Lighter eases transport and bridging limits; heavier often means more armor.: 130 kg

Propulsion

Engine, power and fuel.

Propulsion type Turbofan, turboshaft, diesel, gas turbine, solid-fuel rocket, ramjet…: Solid-fuel rocket

Program

Cost, production scale and operators.

Operator countries Number of countries operating the system. More operators means broader support ecosystem.: 4

Stronger than 47% of missiles

Specifications compiled from public Denel Aviation and reference sources ↗. Published defense figures are approximations — treat comparisons as directional. Last verified 2026-07-02.

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