[Defense Column] Essential Requirements for Aerospace Defense Companies

[Kim Sang-don, CEO of Starburst Korea] The three major map-related app services used by the general public are KakaoMap, Naver Map, and Google Maps. As of this month, an interesting observation can be made when entering the search term ‘Cheongwadae’ in these three major map apps.

On the foreign app Google, the location of Cheongwadae appears immediately along with photos. Even when overlaying satellite images, you can see the aerial view of Cheongwadae. In fact, from most high-rise buildings near Gwanghwamun in Seoul, you can clearly see Cheongwadae with the naked eye.

However, the Korean apps Kakao and Naver are different. Chinese restaurants and barbecue places using the name Cheongwadae appear at the top. Moreover, their locations are quite far from the actual Cheongwadae. When looking at satellite photos of the actual Cheongwadae coordinates, only a view covered with foliage is visible.

Some may question what the inability to properly view aerial photos of Cheongwadae has to do with industrial development. But, on the contrary, the fact that foreign companies can see Cheongwadae while our own country cannot is a problem in itself and raises questions about how this should be improved.

This is not about showing high-resolution photos of Cheongwadae. Rather, it is about fairness?that domestic companies should be able to disclose information that foreign companies can also disclose.

Let’s look at the numbers. The success rate of research and development projects supported by our government exceeds 90%. In terms of success rate, it would probably be the highest in the world. Considering that South Korea’s annual R&D expenditure exceeded 21 trillion won as of 2020, this is understandable. However, it is necessary to consider whether these projects are effective and how significant their ripple effects are.

Frankly speaking, the projects selected tend to have a high likelihood of success. Many of these are so-called follower-type projects that imitate what others have already succeeded in, rather than challenging innovative and bold ideas. Receiving government funding to research innovative things, there is a fear of failure and negative media coverage, which causes both the public and private sectors to hesitate in taking on new challenges. We need to shift our direction to leading-type R&D projects rather than follower-type as soon as possible. Although the success rate will inevitably drop somewhat, I recall my high school teacher’s words: even if a millet grain rolls a hundred times, it cannot compare to a pumpkin rolling once.

The world is now shifting to a new space era led by civilians. South Korea’s ambitious entrepreneurs have also begun meaningful steps in launch vehicles and satellite fields. At the government level, South Korea has even been named in the U.S. Artemis program. However, from the perspective of innovation, there are still many shortcomings. Established space powers such as the U.S., Western Europe, India, and Japan already have startups continuously emerging to track, collect, and recycle space debris. In contrast, there is virtually no startup or R&D activity in new fields domestically.

The barriers blocking innovation and challenge are not only policies. There is also significant disappointment with the media. In fields with great symbolic value such as aerospace and defense, when failures occur during R&D projects, the media tends to report unconditional criticism rather than constructive criticism.

In June, after the KF-21 new fighter jet delivery ceremony, reports surfaced raising suspicions about disassembling the aircraft. It was not disassembled a day before its maiden flight; it was literally the delivery ceremony. This was not a mass-produced new car to be sold next month but a fighter jet that must undergo years of flight testing. This is incomprehensible. Developers of the new fighter jet inevitably lose morale due to such media coverage.

Consider the Israeli air defense system Iron Dome, whose operational footage was released in May last year. The Israeli authorities announced an interception success rate of about 90-95%. Comparing this to our media environment, if a domestically developed air defense system had a 95% interception rate instead of 100%, there would likely be daily critical articles about the 5% failure.

While we hesitate due to policy and media barriers, other countries are rapidly producing innovative aerospace and defense ideas, some of which are already deployed in the field.

Even looking at infantry rifles, the ACE (Aim Control Enhancer), which minimizes barrel shake, is being evaluated as part of the U.S. Army’s next-generation squad weapon program, and the intelligent digital sight developed by Israeli startup Smart Shooter is gaining attention as a device that can dramatically improve infantry shooting accuracy.

A few years ago, I visited an Israeli drone startup and happened to meet an officer from the Israeli military conducting acceptance inspections. When I asked how quality inspections and defense standards were applied to special-purpose drones delivered in small quantities annually, he gave a very practical answer.

“Since we receive only a small number of less than a hundred units annually for special purposes, is it really necessary to apply defense standards in advance? It’s not hundreds or thousands of units.”

Thus, innovation has also begun in the defense sector. Regardless of scale, many of our companies have the potential to quickly grow to a world-class level. However, the aerospace and defense sectors are bound by invisible shackles due to systems and regulations that hinder corporate innovation.

If companies and R&D personnel demonstrate innovation, several unicorn companies will soon emerge in South Korea’s aerospace and defense sectors.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.