Aju Business Daily

 

SEOUL -- South Korea's arms procurement agency signed contracts with LIG Nex1 and two other drone makers to introduce three types of attack drones for a pilot operation at military units within six months. Drones and unmanned aerial vehicles are widely used on battlefields and for reconnaissance because of their versatility and costs.

South Korea has launched a military project to spend some 2.7 trillion won ($2.45 billion) on deploying reconnaissance drones, communication relay drones, attack drones and UAVs that would monitor battlefields and collect map data for precise artillery attacks in real-time from high altitudes.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said that it would purchase drones from civilian companies through a rapid pilot project. "The rapid pilot project is a system designed to quickly apply the rapidly changing Fourth Industrial Revolution technology to the military, and we expect it to become an innovative model for defense improvement projects in the future," DAPA head Wang Jung-hong said in a statement on December 2.

LIG Nex1's drone can accurately destroy targets, which are difficult to hit. Installed with detection, explosive and anti-jamming devices, the drone can obtain precise coordinates by using infrared cameras and laser distance measuring devices.

UMAC Air's rifle-carrying drone is equipped with a shock absorption system so that it can fire fast and accurately. An electronic optics camera with high magnification zoom can even identify distant targets and automatically track targets.

The self-destructive drone can be carried when combatants sneak into enemy areas and can strike enemy personnel and equipment quickly and precisely at close range. Four drones can be folded into a backpack. Four can be fired in seconds continuously in a "Fire & Forget" method. Precision strikes are possible by controlling the drone's position, posture and speed when it falls.