CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Despite a recent accident with an Israeli-built drone, South Korea’s military is pressing ahead ahead with unmanned technology, including a stealthy loyal wingman designed to accompany the air force’s new KF-21 Boramae fighters.
The accident occurred on March 17, when an IAI Heron-1 drone belonging to Korea’s army veered off a runway upon landing at Yangju, subsequently colliding with a parked Surion helicopter. Both aircraft were written off, meaning the army has now lost all three of its Herons in accidents.
Nonetheless, the country is under the gun to accelerate its drone plans – and for reasons outside immediate military-equipment considerations.
Kim Jae Yeop, senior researcher at the Sungkyun Institute for Global Strategy in Seoul, told Defense News South Korea’s low birth rate, amongst the lowest in the world, is looming large.
“The number of regular troops in the armed forces, which is now roughly 500,000, will highly likely decrease to fewer than 400,000 in the next decade,” he said.
“As a result,” Kim explained, “Seoul is taking active measures to expand the role of military unmanned systems to offset the reduction in troops. They can be acquired at significant scale at a lower cost and without risk to life in missions.”
One important program saw Korean Air roll out a new loyal wingman technology demonstrator – called the Low Observable Unmanned Wingman System, or LOWUS – on Feb. 25.
The stealthy turbofan-powered LOWUS, funded by the Agency for Defense Development since 2021, was unveiled at the Korean Air Tech Center in Pusan. Its maiden flight is expected later this year, ahead of manned-unmanned teaming flight tests in 2027.
Possessing an internal weapons bay and looking similar to the American XQ-58A Valkyrie, Korean Air lists a length of 10.4m and wingspan of 9.4m for the aicraft.
As with similar loyal wingman concepts by other major powers, the idea for the drone sidekicks is fly missions ranging from strike to surveillance, jamming and escort.
The LOWUS will likely have a domestic engine and active electronically scanned array radar. Korean Air gained experience with requisite stealth technologies when developing the blended-wing KUS-FC, or Kaori-X, drone that first flew in 2015.
In the future, Korea’s air force is expected to introduce composite squadrons of manned fighters and loyal wingmen.
“Considering the fact that only a small number of countries like the U.S., Australia and Russia have been producing and testing similar kinds of systems, the LOWUS highlights Seoul’s technological achievements,” said Kim.
Another program currently underway comprises a search for loitering munitions for Korean special forces units. A platform is due to be selected later this year, and Seoul is allocating around $22 million to this acquisition.
Foreign types like the Switchblade 600 and Hero 120 are under consideration, with the aim being to give special forces strike drones they can use independently against North Korean invaders without the need for calling in external fire support.
Gordon Arthur is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. After a 20-year stint working in Hong Kong, he now resides in New Zealand. He has attended military exercises and defense exhibitions in about 20 countries around the Asia-Pacific region.
