[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Aging Army Drones and Unexplained Crashes

Rimoai

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] It has been pointed out that all unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) held by corps under the Ground Operations Command (GOC) have exceeded their service life, creating gaps in North Korea surveillance capabilities.

On the 22nd, Kim Jin-pyo, a member of the National Assembly's Defense Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, stated in a press release distributed ahead of the GOC audit, "The UAVs held by the seven corps under the GOC are Israeli Searcher and domestically produced Songgolmae models, all of which have exceeded their 15-year service life by 1 to 3 years at minimum and up to 6 years at maximum." He added, "Since parts for these UAVs have been discontinued and repairs are difficult, each corps has reduced reconnaissance flights from seven times a week to one or two times," and argued, "Ultimately, surveillance of North Korea could become negligent."

The Remoeye, a battalion-level UAV, was found to mostly suffer from 'unknown defects.'

According to the operational status of battalion-level UAVs submitted by the Army Headquarters to Kang Dae-sik, a member of the National Assembly's Defense Committee from the People Power Party, the number of crashes of the Remoeye, produced by domestic defense company Yukon System, has been increasing every year since its introduction in 2011. There were nine crashes in 2015 alone, the year it was introduced, followed by eleven in 2016, and thirteen crashes each in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Up to September this year, there have been twelve crashes.

The problem lies in the causes of these crashes. The Army concluded that all nine crashes in 2015 were due to operator error. However, crashes due to unknown defects continued thereafter. There were only four such cases in 2017, but five in 2018, and eight last year. This year, three crashes with unknown causes have occurred, and nine more are under investigation, suggesting that crashes due to unknown causes will increase. The military estimates that the crashed UAVs experienced equipment defects such as loss of control during flight, onboard communication device failure, servo motor malfunction, thrust motor stoppage during flight, and GPS signal loss, but the exact causes have not been identified.

As unknown defects continue, repair costs are also rising. The UAVs introduced by the Army have a three-year free repair period. However, since last year, the number of models whose free repair period has ended has increased, causing repair costs to rise from 160 million KRW in 2018 to 790 million KRW. This year, repair costs are expected to exceed 812 million KRW.