YDG-36
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The YDG-36 (Formal designation: 36식 대공 유도탄 / 三六式對空誘導彈, sam-ryuk-sik daegong yudotan, "Type 36 anti-air missile;" Short designation 유대공-36 Yudaegong-samryuk "YDG-36") is a type of surface-to-air missile developed in Menghe during the 1970s and early 1980s. As Menghe's first domestically-designed surface-to-air missile, it had a long and troubled development history. Intended for land and naval service, it was generally considered unsatisfactory in both roles, and by the end of the 2000s it had been retired from all active warships.
Development
During the early 1970s, the Democratic People's Republic of Menghe began design work on a new, short-ranged surface-to-air missile. The development program was initially promoted by the Menghean People's Navy, which lacked an intermediate SAM between the bulky YDG-32 and the short-ranged YDG-31. It was planned for implementation on a successor class to the Nunbora-class destroyers, which ended up not materializing on schedule. Early prototypes of the missile used radio command guidance, but even with this simpler guidance method, the designers encountered great difficulties in miniaturizing the necessary components. Menghe's electronic industrial base, still reeling from the Menghean War of Liberation, lagged well behind that of the other great powers.
The situation changed in 1978, when Menghe gained a license to produce the Letnian R-23 missile as part of the Daesŭngri DS-5 fighter project. A land-launched, booster-equipped R-23 was briefly considered, but it would have been just as long and bulky as the YDG-32, negating the aims of the project. Instead, the design team decided to accelerate the design process by using the R-23's seeker head on a modified version of the prototype missile body, which was similar in diameter. This involved shifting the missile's main guidance system from command guidance to semi-active radar homing, and developing a new illuminator antenna to support its guidance.
Accelerated development during the project's late stages brought its own share of problems. In 1983, the MoND formally approved the missile for service, giving it the designation YDG-36, and it entered production the following year, to arm the Chŏndong-class destroyers. But trials to fine-tune the guidance system were not yet complete. In combination with poor quality control, this caused the first batch of missiles to perform very poorly in tests. It was only in the early 1990s, with the development of the YDG-36N and -D variants, that the missile's reliability improved, though even then its overall characteristics were poor compared to contemporary point-defense missiles then entering service.