[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The military will introduce suicide drones capable of confirming location information to accurately strike targets.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced on the 19th that it is recruiting contractors for 12 projects selected in the second phase of the Rapid Demonstration Acquisition program. This project is worth approximately 26 billion KRW.
In particular, the second phase includes suicide drones that can accurately strike targets by confirming location information when a target is designated, and drones that transmit real-time video magnified up to 30 times in the air to aim and fire rifles at ground targets.
Additionally, the project includes various weapon systems prepared for the full-scale unmanned combat era, such as multipurpose unmanned vehicles capable of transport, search, reconnaissance, and strike using autonomous driving technology, and small reconnaissance-strike hybrid drones that can track and attack moving vehicles while conducting reconnaissance.
The bidding announcement for the second phase will be held for 22 days from today until the 9th of next month on the DAPA Defense Electronic Procurement System website (www.d2b.go.kr).
DAPA plans to select contractors within this year through proposal evaluations and other procedures according to relevant laws and regulations, and deliver products for the 12 projects to the military in the first half of next year.
The Rapid Demonstration Acquisition program, launched for the first time this year, is a project where the military prioritizes purchasing products applying fast-evolving 4th Industrial Revolution technologies, conducts trial operations, and rapidly introduces them.
In the first phase, worth about 4 billion KRW, four drone-related projects including reconnaissance drones were selected, contracts were completed in July, and trial operations by the military are scheduled to begin next month.
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