Army Drone 'Shortage in Quantity and Aging Issues'

Scheduled Introduction of Countermeasure Drones but No Suitable Runway Available

Corps-level unmanned aerial vehicle Songgolmae

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] It has been revealed that the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operated by the Army are insufficient in number or have deteriorated mission performance due to aging. Considering that North Korea is increasing its UAV numbers, there are urgent calls for countermeasures.

According to the military on the 29th, the Army possesses about 710 UAVs of 7 types. The Ground Operations Command introduced Israel's IAI Heron in 2016 to monitor the West Sea NLL area. The Heron can fly for over 40 hours at an altitude of 10 km. However, only one set consisting of 3 units was imported, so the eastern region is practically not monitored.

The division-level UAV Cham-mae is also insufficient in quantity. The Army owns 14 sets with 54 units (one set per division), but considering maintenance, each division should have 2 sets.

The aging of UAVs is also a serious problem. The Searcher used by corps was introduced in 1999, and the Songgolmae has been introduced since 2002, far exceeding its 15-year lifecycle. The battalion-level UAV Rimoa has an increasing crash rate every year, making mission execution practically impossible.

The Army plans to introduce medium-altitude UAVs (MUAV) and corps reconnaissance UAV-II to replace the currently owned UAVs, but there is no runway for takeoff and landing. The wingspans of the Searcher and Songgolmae currently used by the corps are 7.6 m and 6.4 m, respectively. The newly introduced MUAV and UAV-II will be significantly longer at 25.3 m and 17.1 m, requiring separate hangars.

Some suggest that the Army UAV operation units located at the front line should be reorganized to the area south of Pyeongtaek, as they fall within the range of North Korea's 170mm and 240mm long-range artillery.

A military official said, "The damage cost due to UAV accidents this year alone amounts to 4.4 billion won," adding, "The main cause is frequent accidents during the initial deployment phase."