Only a $2 Million Drone That Scary?…Everything About Drones [Reading Science]

From Ukraine Resistance 'Suhunggap' to Future Transport Systems

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Since Russia's invasion in February, the Ukrainian military has been achieving an unexpectedly strong performance for nearly two months. One of the key factors behind this is drones. The Ukrainian military's drone, the Turkish-imported Bayraktar TB2, costs only about 2 million dollars. This is just one-tenth the price of the U.S. military's world-class, cutting-edge drones. However, it is difficult to intercept or detect, and it can be used in various ways such as armed attacks, suicide missions, and bombing guidance. In this war, it has played a leading role in neutralizing major equipment like tanks, dulling Russia's offensive edge. It also contributes significantly to psychological warfare by filming videos to boast of achievements and expose Russian military atrocities. In response, Russia is also operating drones to attack the resisting Ukrainian ground forces, engaging in countermeasures. What was once thought to be a 'toy,' drones have already emerged as important weapons in modern warfare and are expected to continue increasing in significance. In daily life, drones will soon be commercialized for delivery and air taxis (urban air mobility, UAM). Although progress in core technologies such as batteries, materials, and traffic control is still needed, full-scale technological development and investment are underway, making the normalization of drones a matter of time.

◇Future Transport Vehicle ‘Drone’

A drone refers to an aircraft operated remotely by an external controller or autonomously by artificial intelligence (AI) without a pilot onboard. It is synonymous with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or unmanned aircraft. Recently, there have been suggestions to call UAVs equipped with automatic or autonomous flight systems drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles are classified into fixed-wing, rotary-wing, and hybrid types. If the propeller is mounted on the side, it is fixed-wing; if on top, rotary-wing. The most commonly discussed drone application is delivery. In countries like South Korea, where there are many apartments and high-rise buildings, urban drone delivery faces many technical challenges. Flight control is difficult, and above all, drones must accurately determine their current location and the delivery destination. South Korea is currently building the Korean Positioning System (KPS) to provide centimeter-level location and timing information, which is essential for unmanned mobility technologies such as drones and autonomous vehicles. In South Korea, drone delivery is more suitable for islands or remote areas rather than urban centers. Cargo drones capable of delivering 10 to 50 kg within 30 minutes to an hour can serve as customized same-day delivery business models for underserved remote and island regions. On the other hand, South Korea has an advantage in UAM. Places like high-rise building rooftops are easily accessible for passengers, and complex flight paths can be managed with precise flight technology using 3D digital maps.

◇How Far Has Drone Development Come?

Drones are becoming increasingly intelligent and miniaturized, while the use of medium-grade military drones is expanding. The development of AI-based unmanned attack aircraft and fighters is becoming visible, and the sophistication of illegal drones and aerial e-mobility such as UAM is rising.

The ultra-small drone 'Black Hornet' that the US military plans to deploy in the field this year

Nano drones and micro drones are examples of intelligence and miniaturization. The U.S. Army recently introduced a nano drone called Black Hornet. It weighs less than 100 grams, can communicate within 5 km, and is equipped with a camera and AI-based autonomous navigation system, allowing indoor flight for reconnaissance and intelligence purposes. The British Army is also developing a bug-sized ‘Dragonfly drone.’ Additionally, the U.S. Army uses a micro drone called ‘X2D,’ weighing less than 1 kg in a quadcopter form, for short-range reconnaissance.

The use of medium-sized drones in warfare is rapidly increasing. The Russian army, which invaded Ukraine, has long used the Orlan-10 unmanned drone to locate targets, conduct bombing, jam mortar radars, and for psychological warfare. In 2019, Yemeni rebels bombed Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities with suicide drones. Notably, during the Libyan civil war that ended in 2020, the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA) fought major battles using Turkish and Chinese drones, vividly demonstrating the utilization of drones in modern warfare. Over 1,000 airstrikes were conducted by drones on both sides. In the 2019 Tripoli battle, the GNA successfully counterattacked by effectively using Turkish TB2 drones alongside other weapon systems. The Turkish TB2 drone gained fame during this process. Although priced between 2 to 5 million dollars, it can carry anti-tank missiles, fly at speeds up to 200 km/h, and operate for 24 hours over a maximum range of 6,000 km, earning high marks for cost-effectiveness. The TB2 drone also attracted global attention during the 2020 Azerbaijan-Armenia war, where Azerbaijan used it to destroy 114 tanks, 43 armored vehicles, 141 self-propelled artillery vehicles, 42 SAM and radar vehicles, 249 military vehicles, and 44 trenches and military warehouses.

Development of drone attack aircraft and fighters to complement existing manned fighters is also active. The U.S. Air Force is developing AI-controlled unmanned attack and fighter aircraft under the ‘Skyborg’ project, intended to destroy enemy air defenses and engage in group air combat to shoot down enemy aircraft ahead of high-performance manned fighters. Candidate models include Kratos’ Valkyrie, Boeing’s Loyal Wingman, and General Atomics’ Avenger. The South Korean Air Force recently announced plans to develop unmanned attack aircraft as part of its next-generation project.

Drones become dangerous as small, high-speed swarm operations become possible. When small drones flying at high speeds are operated in swarms by AI, it is impossible to counter them with existing air defense weapons or anti-drone equipment. They can inflict fatal attacks on nuclear power plants, oil facilities, and military security installations. Deploying large transport aircraft to release numerous drones makes defense impossible. Small drones measuring 3 to 5 meters, flying at low altitudes within 0.5 m to 1 km at speeds of 200 km/h, are practically impossible to detect and destroy. Electronic warfare methods such as detection via radar, thermal imaging, and video equipment followed by jamming, as well as countermeasures like hacking and control takeover, are being researched but no universal solution exists yet. Recently, high-power directed energy weapons, i.e., laser systems that quickly shoot down drones, have been developed in the U.S. and Israel. In South Korea, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology recently announced the development of a 3 kW high-power laser capable of shooting down drones.

On the 11th, Volocopter is conducting a test flight at the 'Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Flight Demonstration Event' held at the Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center (SGBAC). Urban Air Mobility is a new air transportation system operated in connection with other transportation modes, using eco-friendly electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles that can be utilized within urban areas for the purpose of transporting passengers or cargo. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

Drones are also being actively explored in the field of air traffic. Urban air taxis have already proven commercial viability when Airbus operated helicopter-based services in S?o Paulo, Brazil, Mexico, and San Francisco, USA, in 2016, gaining popularity. Drones use electric motors and batteries, causing much less environmental pollution and noise, can fly autonomously, and have lower airframe costs. Their safety level has been greatly improved to be comparable to cars, far surpassing helicopters. Accordingly, efforts to commercialize 4-6 passenger drone taxis operating within cities or between cities and airports are active worldwide. European companies Volocopter and Airbus, Chinese company EHang, and American company Joby are developing electric vertical takeoff and landing (e-VTOL) aircraft.

◇Domestic and International Status

The global drone market is expected to grow rapidly, increasing more than sixfold from 14.9 billion dollars in 2020 to 91 billion dollars by 2030, with an average annual growth rate of 20%. Currently, combat drones (about 8 billion dollars) account for 54% of the market, but by 2030, commercial drones (29 billion dollars, 32%) and logistics drones (33 billion dollars, 36%) are predicted to dominate. Passenger transport is expected to establish a 2 billion dollar (2%) foundation. Currently, the global drone market is dominated by the U.S. and Israel in defense drones, and China (DJI, 76%) in civilian drones, while Turkey is expanding its market share in defense with low-cost TB2 drones. Civilian drones, integrated with AI data processing and advanced sensor technologies, contribute to productivity improvements and new job creation in agriculture, fisheries, and infrastructure management. A representative case is Australia’s use of a 50,000-dollar agricultural drone in 2018, which increased output by 10% and sales by 450,000 dollars. From a defense and security perspective, the tactical importance of drones is growing, and there is an increasing need to respond to illegal activities and the overseas leakage of national core data via civilian drones. In fact, in June last year, the U.S. Congress raised suspicions that the Chinese drone company DJI’s cloud network-based drone operation platform leaks U.S. military drone operation information and national geographic data to China and is pushing for a ban on its use.

Domestic drone technology and industry are still at an early stage. As of 2019, South Korea’s unmanned vehicle industry recorded sales of 811.8 billion won and employed 7,004 people. This is the extent of significant growth since 2015. However, recently, the use of domestically produced drones has greatly increased in defense, law enforcement, firefighting, and agriculture, and technology development is spreading, leading to activation. The problem is that the localization rate of core components is only 38% (as of 2020), resulting in excessive dependence on foreign sources. Additionally, it is difficult to determine causes in case of accidents or crashes, and drones cannot be used in adverse weather conditions. Kang Wang-gu, head of the Unmanned Mobility Development Project Group at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, pointed out, “It is urgent to quickly resolve foreign dependence on core components and systematically prepare for future new markets. Development of next-generation drone components, establishment of public-private cooperation systems for UAM introduction, and development of fundamental technologies such as medium-to-large hydrogen fuel cells are necessary.”

◇Numerous Core Technology Challenges

For drone commercialization, high-efficiency batteries are essential. Current battery technology limits UAM flight times to 20 to 30 minutes. Batteries with more than twice the energy density are needed, and research is underway on lithium-metal, lithium-sulfur, and solid-state batteries. Hydrogen fuel cells are also being studied as alternatives. In South Korea, Hyundai Motor, Mobis, Doosan DMI, and Hanwha are developing hydrogen fuel cells. Drones equipped with hydrogen fuel cells are being developed by Doosan DMI, Hyundai Motor, LIG Nex1, and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. Hydrogen fuel cells are not very efficient for small drones but are considered suitable for delivery drones or UAM with a total weight exceeding 150 kg. However, improvements in weight, performance, and reliability are required for commercialization. Autonomous flight technology using AI is also essential. Automatic flight using GPS (Global Positioning System) has already reached near practical levels. Recently, technologies have been developed that allow drones to recognize terrain and objects with video cameras to avoid collisions and automatically fly to destinations. Flight control technology is also being developed domestically, with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the National Police Agency planning to develop an integrated control system (UTM - UAV Traffic Management) by the end of this year. The challenge is to minimize accident risks and enhance safety through precise control using 3D maps. Kang said, “Drones have already deeply penetrated our lives in drama filming, map making, surveying, and pesticide spraying, and the grand finale will probably be UAM and cargo drones. In about 20 years, people and goods will move between large and small cities by drone.”