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Missile

South Korea

Hanwha Aerospace

TAipers

South Korean air-launched, imaging-infrared-homing anti-tank guided missile developed by the Agency for Defense Development and built by Hanwha Aerospace, for armed helicopters and UAVs to engage stationary and moving armored targets.

In service since 2024

Compiled from public sources ·primary reference ↗ ·last verified 2026-08-04

km range

0.59

Mach

Procurement snapshot

Availability & export

ROK export-licensed

DAPA-administered; aggressive export posture with financing/offset packages.

Channel: Government-to-government

Fielded & proven

Operator data not public

In service since 2024. Status: active.

Lifecycle cost (est.)

No public unit price to model from. Why so few systems publish one →

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.

Overview

TAipers ("Tank Snipers"), known domestically as Cheongeom ("Heavenly Sword"), is a lightweight, lock-on-before-launch anti-tank guided missile developed 2015-2022 by South Korea's Agency for Defense Development and built by Hanwha Aerospace. It uses a fire-and-forget dual-mode seeker (visible/infrared imaging) guided by a fiber-optic datalink in midcourse and imaging-infrared homing in the terminal phase, with target-recognition AI trained on more than 800,000 image frames. Its tandem-charge HEAT warhead is rated to penetrate 1,000 mm of rolled homogeneous armour. It entered service in 2024 arming the KAI LAH-1 Miron light attack helicopter and MAH Marineon naval helicopter, with a ground-vehicle-launched variant also in development.

Full specifications

Performance

Speed, range, altitude and engagement capability.

Performance specifications
Max speed (Mach) Maximum speed as a multiple of the speed of sound. Mach 2+ is typical for air-superiority fighters.	0.59 Mach Bottom 4% of missiles
Range Maximum distance: ferry range for aircraft, operational range for vehicles, maximum engagement distance for missiles. Higher means more standoff or persistence.	10 km Stronger than 20% of missiles

Firepower

Armament, payload and guidance.

Firepower specifications
Caliber Bore diameter of the main gun or rifle. Larger throws heavier projectiles; not simply better, ammunition commonality matters.	150 mm
Warhead type Blast-fragmentation, shaped charge (HEAT), penetrator, thermobaric or nuclear-capable.	Tandem-charge HEAT
Guidance How the weapon finds its target: inertial, GPS/GLONASS, active/semi-active radar, infrared, laser, TV, wire.	INS, Fiber-optic datalink (midcourse), IIR/Fire-and-forget (terminal)

Physical

Dimensions, weight and crew.

Physical specifications
Length Overall length including gun/probe where applicable.	1.74 m
Empty weight Weight without fuel, ammunition or crew.	35 kg

Propulsion

Engine, power and fuel.

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

Specifications compiled from public Hanwha Aerospace and reference sources ↗. Published defense figures are approximations, treat comparisons as directional. Last verified 2026-08-04.

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