Hanwha Defense Develops 'Unmanned Reconnaissance Vehicle' to Lead Ahead of Soldiers

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The exploration development of the state-of-the-art unmanned reconnaissance vehicle (photo), which will perform reconnaissance, scouting, and guard duties instead of soldiers on the battlefield, was successfully completed on the 21st.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration announced on the 22nd that it has successfully completed the exploration development of the unmanned reconnaissance vehicle, conducted since October 2018 in collaboration with the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and defense companies. The unmanned reconnaissance vehicle is a cutting-edge defense robot that performs various missions such as reconnaissance, scouting, and guard duties at the forefront of mechanized units, and it is the first unmanned ground combat system developed domestically.

Exploration development is a stage where core technologies are researched and key functions and operational suitability are assessed through prototypes before full-scale weapon system development begins. Since 2018, the Agency for Defense Development has started research and development of the unmanned reconnaissance vehicle in cooperation with major domestic defense companies.

After vehicle design, performance testing, and operational verification, the exploration development was successfully completed. System development is scheduled to begin next year. During the final operational verification phase, which lasted about three months from December last year, evaluations were conducted on more than 60 items including operational performance, military operational suitability, and elements supporting weaponization.

The unmanned reconnaissance vehicle is a 6-wheel hybrid platform that performs missions via remote control or autonomous driving over long distances. The vehicle has autonomous driving modes such as △(control vehicle) dependent driving △route driving △obstacle detection and stop/avoidance △planned route maneuvering in case of communication loss. In particular, by applying a hybrid power system, it is expected to dramatically improve night reconnaissance and scouting capabilities and contribute to enhancing the combat power of mechanized units.

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