Preventing North Korean Nuclear EMP Attacks... Advanced Science Technologies for Future Warfare [Reading Science]

Nuclear explosion (Photo by Getty Images Bank)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] This is an era where advanced science and technology dominate the battlefield. South Korea's military strength ranks 6th in the world, and its defense science and technology ranks 9th globally. Especially as the domains of warfare expand to space, cyber, and electromagnetic fields, the importance of advanced science and technology is being emphasized. Let's take a look at the advanced materials and technologies developed by national research institutes that play a crucial role in such future battlefields.

◇Material Developed to Block North Korea's Nuclear EMP Attack

One of the most likely scenarios when North Korea attacks South Korea is detonating a nuclear bomb over the central region of South Korea, initiating an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) attack that paralyzes all electronic devices in the southern Korean Peninsula. If hit by an EMP attack, military communication systems, air defense networks, computer networks, as well as civilian devices like mobile phones, cars, computers, and televisions?all semiconductor-operated electronic devices?become useless. It is a terrifying prospect that could paralyze the entire society. However, a material that alleviates such concerns was developed last year by the research team led by Gu Jong-min, head of the Material Structure Control Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). The material, called 'Ti₃CN MXene,' was recognized for its effectiveness to the extent that a paper was published in the world-renowned journal 'Science.' It is a nanomaterial with a planar structure 1nm thick, composed of compounds of titanium (Ti), carbon (C), and nitrogen (N).

The research team improved upon the MXene material developed in 2016, which had excellent electromagnetic wave shielding performance but only reflected waves without absorbing them, potentially causing secondary damage. In other words, they created a new material by adding nitrogen to the existing MXene. This material is just a thin film about the thickness of a hair (approximately 40 micrometers) but has a high electromagnetic wave shielding performance exceeding 116dB. It can defend against electromagnetic pulse bombs and can also be used in stealth technology that avoids radar detection.

◇Extending Naval Vessel Lifespan and Enhancing Crew Survivability

Naval vessels are enormous assets with investments exceeding 1 trillion won. They carry thousands of crew members. When damaged by enemy fire, it is a critical task to continue missions while increasing crew survivability. In this regard, the Korean Institute of Machinery and Materials developed the Korean-style 'Combat Damage Control Management System (CDCMS)' in September 2020, which is evaluated to have dramatically improved the survivability of South Korean naval vessels. Even when a ship is hit, it maintains command, control, and communication capabilities, significantly contributing to enhancing crew survivability and mission performance. Notably, the previously imported software, which cost about 12 billion won annually during naval shipbuilding, was successfully localized.

Additionally, technology was developed to quickly produce core parts of naval vessels using metal 3D printing when key components fail, enabling the vessel to return to duty as soon as possible. The Korea Institute of Industrial Technology succeeded last year in repairing and reinstalling the 'reduction gear main shaft,' a core component of the propulsion system of a main naval vessel, using metal 3D printing technology, and operated it normally at sea for 1 year and 6 months. The reduction gear main shaft is a large part measuring 1.8 meters, and manufacturing a new one takes 7 months, making long-term mission performance impossible. It also costs 60 million won.

The institute succeeded in replicating the reduction gear main shaft in just one month, reducing costs to one-twentieth. Now, the South Korean Navy can repair critical ship parts much faster and deploy them swiftly in situations. The institute utilized the 'DED (Directed Energy Deposition)' process among 3D printing technologies. Using a 1kW high-power laser source, it instantly melts the metal surface requiring modification while simultaneously layering supplied metal powder in real-time to produce precise parts.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

◇Strengthening Defense with Advanced Materials and Artificial Intelligence

The DMC (Defense Materials & Components) Convergence Research Group, centered at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), developed components and high-performance sensors for surveillance and reconnaissance weapon systems. Through the development of GaN (Gallium Nitride) RF chipset integrated circuits (MMIC) such as high-power power amplifiers, low-noise amplifiers, and switch MMICs using GaN semiconductors, they developed power amplifiers for defense and communication that are smaller in size but have excellent signal conversion efficiency. GaN semiconductors are suitable for high-power, high-efficiency, and compact power amplifier devices because they operate at high voltages due to a wider energy gap compared to conventional semiconductors like silicon (Si) or gallium arsenide (GaAs), and the carrier concentration using polarization charge is more than 10 times that of GaAs, enabling high power density. These components are expected to greatly assist in domestic production and performance improvement of military weapon systems such as high-resolution radar transmitters and ship navigation radar transmitters.

Also, the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) developed a technology called PHM (Prognostics and Health Management) that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to predict and prevent equipment failures in advance, dramatically improving work time at the naval maintenance depot. By analyzing sensor signals such as vibration, current, and sound generated from equipment, it prevents equipment failures beforehand, reducing damage caused by downtime (time when equipment is inoperable due to failure). When combined with AI and deep learning technologies, it can accurately and quickly identify failure locations in complex machinery. This technology was supplied to the naval maintenance depot in April last year.

Researchers at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) are inspecting the output power characteristic test of a gallium nitride semiconductor power amplifier MMIC chip.

(Photo by DMC Convergence Research Division)