LIG Nex1 Completes Unmanned Surface Vessel Test Building ... Smooth Progress in Gumi Defense Industry Development

Securing Test and Inspection Facilities, Establishing an Ecosystem Foundation for Manned-Unmanned Combined Combat Systems

Planned Nakdonggang Unmanned Surface Vehicle Test Bed... Maximizing Synergy

On the 23rd, Gumi City in Gyeongbuk held a completion ceremony for the dedicated unmanned surface vessel (USV) system integration test building at LIG Nex1 (CEO Kim Ji-chan) Gumi House.

Gumi City Hall.

The ceremony was attended by about 60 people, including Mayor Kim Jang-ho, LIG Nex1 CEO Kim Ji-chan, Vice Presidents Kwon Byung-hyun and Cha Sang-hoon, officials from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, Agency for Defense Development, Navy, Defense Technology Quality Institute, and representatives from companies.

The LIG Nex1 dedicated USV system integration test building was constructed with an investment of 4.1 billion KRW, starting in October 2022, and completed as a facility covering 1,097㎡ (332 pyeong).

The facility includes a water tank with a capacity of about 1,000 tons for testing and inspecting USVs and their components, cranes capable of assembling and inspecting four USVs simultaneously, and a water purification machine room.

The system integration test building will be used as a pre-inspection facility for overall performance improvement and operational capability enhancement, including subsystem (platform, autonomous navigation device, central control unit, wireless communication unit, armament, surveillance and reconnaissance unit, underwater search unit) individual inspections, system integration inspection, and linked simulation tests.

Since 2015, LIG Nex1 has developed the Haegum USV for coastal surveillance and reconnaissance through a civil-military technology application research project promoted by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the Civil-Military Cooperation Promotion Agency. It has evolved into the Haegum series (Haegum-II, Haegum-III, Haegum-V) and M-Hunter, maritime unmanned platforms prepared for future warfare, performing various operations.

Gumi City plans to create a defense-specialized test and demonstration infrastructure by establishing an advanced defense industry promotion center and the Nakdong River USV testbed, along with the dedicated USV system integration test building constructed by LIG Nex1, completing a manned-unmanned complex combat system ecosystem that supports the entire cycle of ‘development-production-testing.’

Mayor Kim Jang-ho said, “We appreciate LIG Nex1’s large-scale investment of 110 billion KRW in September 2022, support for selection as a defense innovation cluster, and the construction of this USV system integration test building, which contribute to the development of the defense industry and revitalization of the local economy in the Gumi area.” He added, “Based on accumulated technological capabilities, I hope LIG Nex1 becomes a world-class company in the defense sector with a super-gap competitiveness.”