The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Thursday it will begin to mass produce and deploy the domestically-made medium-range surface-to-air Cheongung missile to the Korean Air Force by the end of the year. Recently, the state-run Agency for Defense Development successfully test-fired the new missile, also called the M-SAM, at its Anheung testing site in Taean County, South Chungcheong, said an official from DAPA. The missile was developed by the Agency for Defense Development from 2001 and completed in 2011 and has a maximum range of 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) and a weight of 400 kilograms (881 pounds).