Military robots will be fielded in stages starting this year. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration is carrying out development projects for a total of four unmanned robot systems, with an explosive detection and disposal robot to be deployed first.
According to the military on the 26th, the explosive detection and disposal robot developed by Hanwha Aerospace will enter mass production this year and be supplied to the Army and Navy through next year. Hanwha Aerospace began a "concept exploration" phase in 2017 to assess technological feasibility, then completed "system development" in 2023 to ready a weapon system for mass production.
The robot was developed to perform missions such as reconnaissance, search, and detection in high-risk areas where mines are planted or explosives are set, taking the place of personnel. Its attached manipulator arm can be swapped for an X-ray imager, mine detector, recoilless water cannon gun, shotgun, cable cutter, and more. However, the robot lacks autonomous detection and must be operated by a person.
The military also plans to mass-produce an autonomous underwater mine-search vehicle (AUV) developed by LIG Nex1 this year. The AUV is an unmanned robot that searches for sea mines underwater. It moves autonomously to an input waypoint and uses sonar (a device that determines the bearing and distance of underwater targets using sound waves) and underwater ultrasonic detectors to locate mines. The robot operates smoothly at depths of several hundred meters.
LIG Nex1 completed system development in 2024 and plans to sign a mass-production contract with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration within the year. The military aims to finish mass production by 2029.
LIG Nex1 is also conducting system development for a reconnaissance unmanned surface vessel (a crewless ship operated on the water's surface). It began developing the "Haegum" series of unmanned surface vessels in 2015 and has been enhancing performance to meet military requirements.
The unmanned surface vessel is slated for operation at forward naval bases and major ports. LIG Nex1 is developing it to enable connection with low Earth orbit satellites to expand the operating radius. It is 12 meters long and 3 meters wide, reaching speeds over 40 knots. A knot is the speed of traveling 1 nautical mile (1,852 meters) per hour.
LIG Nex1 plans to complete system development of the reconnaissance unmanned surface vessel by 2027. The reconnaissance unmanned surface vessel and AUV are drawing expectations to play key roles in the Navy's manned-unmanned teaming weapon system "Navy Sea Ghost." LIG Nex1 also plans to embark on developing an attack unmanned surface vessel.
The last of the unmanned robot projects overseen by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration is an unmanned reconnaissance vehicle. Development is underway under the supervision of the Agency for Defense Development (ADD). Launched in 2022, the unmanned reconnaissance vehicle program is scheduled to wrap up around September this year.
The unmanned reconnaissance vehicle is a vehicle-type robot that performs missions such as search, reconnaissance, and security at the very front of the operational area in place of personnel. It detects multiple targets at night and applies artificial intelligence (AI) technology to precisely track captured targets.
Separately from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the military is also pushing its own pilot robot project. Working with Hyundai Rotem and Rainbow Robotics, the military developed a quadruped robot and completed a demonstration last year.
The robot is equipped with AI to find its own route and recognize human hand signals to crawl or advance. It was reportedly used for reconnaissance during the demonstration. However, the military has not yet officially announced a mass-production plan for the quadruped robot.
In industry, there is an outlook that if the military actively places orders for robot programs and the types of robots deployed in the field increase, the overall pace of development in Korea's robot industry will also accelerate.
A business community official said, "Because military goods typically require high durability, the required level of technology is higher than for general products," and added, "As with cases where military technologies such as lasers or wireless communications expanded to the civilian sector, an expansion of military robots will also expand the market for civilian robots."
Some, however, say the pace of development and mass production needs to be faster. They worry that at the current pace, it will be difficult to quickly enhance the armed forces' capabilities and Korea will fall behind in competition to export weapons in the global defense market.
Although the explosive detection and disposal robot was the first of its kind in the world, it took 10 years from the initial development stage to mass production. Autonomous detection has not yet been completed. The reconnaissance unmanned surface vessel has also taken more than a decade from the start of development to mass production.
Unmanned vehicle platforms are assessed as lagging behind those of some countries. Estonia's Milrem Robotics developed the unmanned vehicle "THeMIS" in the 2010s and exported it to Spain and the Netherlands.