[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Alone by Himself, the 'Unmanned Reconnaissance Vehicle Sherpa'

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] In 2019, at the Special Warfare Command in Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, an unmanned vehicle that caught attention appeared at the ‘72nd Armed Forces Day Commemoration Event.’ It was the ‘HR-Sherpa’ developed by Hyundai Rotem. At that time, the Sherpa attracted interest as it performed security and guard duties leading much larger wheeled armored vehicles. To see the Sherpa in person, I visited Hyundai Rotem’s research center located in Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi-do on the 6th.

Upon entering Hyundai Rotem, strict security procedures had to be followed. Approval was required for everything, including laptops and even memory cards. Behind the research building, I encountered the Sherpa standing on a two-lane road. Seeing the Sherpa, which I had only seen in videos, in reality, it measured about 2.5 meters in length and 1.5 meters in width, slightly smaller than a compact car. In the middle of the vehicle, there was a space large enough to carry cargo like a regular pickup truck. A Hyundai Rotem official explained that this space is intended for multipurpose use such as supplying ammunition and combat materials or evacuating patients on the battlefield. On both sides of the Sherpa, devices capable of mounting a Reconnaissance Remote Controlled Weapon System (RCWS) for long-range detection were also visible.

The Sherpa is a six-wheeled electric drive vehicle. However, its wheel design differs from vehicles seen before. The tire surfaces are rugged like off-road MT (Mud Terrain) tires, but between the wheel and tire surface, instead of air, solid rubber supports it. This airless tire, used in heavy equipment vehicles in mountainous areas, was introduced for the first time in Korea.

A Hyundai Rotem official guided me to the remote control station. The station consisted of one 60-inch monitor and two 30-inch monitors. The large 60-inch monitor displayed real-time footage of the Sherpa’s front and rear. The left monitor showed a Google satellite map for setting autonomous driving routes, and the right monitor displayed 31 status indicators of the Sherpa, including communication connection status. The Sherpa can be remotely controlled based on 5G wireless communication, LTE, Wi-Fi, and military communication. Using LTE, the remote control range is unlimited.

The Hyundai Rotem official demonstrated an interesting feature by asking me to stand in front of the Sherpa and walk as if guiding it. The Sherpa, which had been standing still on the road, twitched momentarily and then followed me in a zigzag walk. Skeptical, I tried running, but the Sherpa did not lose me, firing 16 laser beams from the Lidar mounted at the front. Looking back, the infrared camera (CCD/IR) installed for night autonomous driving looked eerily like a human eye.

Kim Seok-hwan, chief researcher of the Smart Unmanned Robot Team, explained, "The Sherpa is equipped with unmanned driving capabilities such as autonomous driving that independently explores and patrols designated routes." The Sherpa runs on electricity. One hour of charging allows it to travel about 30 km. Distance and weight can be modified according to the purpose.

Hyundai Rotem recently succeeded in developing the system for a wheeled command vehicle. The localization rate of this vehicle reaches about 98% based on the number of parts. The wheeled command vehicle is scheduled for a mass production project worth approximately 1.2 trillion KRW, raising expectations for additional orders in the future. The wheeled command vehicle is equipped with a network-based combat command system and will perform core functions of the Army’s AI-based future ground combat system, ‘Army TIGER 4.0.’ Advanced network-based combat command equipment, real-time transmission and reception systems, and screens are installed inside the vehicle to enable rapid and efficient unit command even while on the move.

After seeing the Sherpa and leaving Hyundai Rotem’s Uiwang research center, the future ground combat system that the military has emphasized seemed to come into view. The unmannedization of main combat systems such as the K2 tank was rapidly becoming a reality.