Large-Scale Military-Exclusive Unmanned Testing Site Planned on the East Coast

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] A large-scale military-exclusive marine unmanned system test site is being planned on the East Coast. Once the test site is established within the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality (ADD) Samcheok Marine Research Center, testing of unmanned attack systems is also expected to become possible.

According to military officials on the 7th, the Navy has decided to introduce unmanned surface vessels (for reconnaissance, mine warfare, and ship-mounted use), unmanned submarines (for reconnaissance and underwater autonomous mine detection), and unmanned aerial vehicles (for ship-mounted reconnaissance and fleet reconnaissance). Reconnaissance unmanned surface vessels, mine-detection unmanned submarines, and ship-mounted unmanned aerial vehicles are scheduled to be deployed after 2025.

The military plans to utilize a test site on the Saemangeum site in Jeonbuk for the evaluation of the initially introduced unmanned systems. The test site will be used jointly by civilians and the military, with an investment of 200 billion KRW by 2025. Saemangeum has the advantage of being sparsely populated, allowing unrestricted testing hours and minimizing the possibility of civil complaints. Additionally, there is no GPS signal interference, making it suitable for test evaluation environments.

However, the Saemangeum test site can only accommodate unmanned vessels up to 15 meters in length and 15 tons in weight, so a separate location is needed for testing mine-detection unmanned submarines and similar systems. This is why the military intends to establish a test site within the ADD Samcheok Marine Research Center.

The East Sea test site is a dedicated training ground for interceptor guided missiles aimed at intercepting North Korean missiles. Tracking stations for missile interception have been established on Hwangbyeongsan in Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon Province, and on Ulleungdo Island. Additionally, a research center analyzing various test data has been set up in Samcheok City. A test ship capable of launching the SM-2 sea-based ballistic missile interceptor guided missile has also been prepared.