Is the Defense Mid-Term Plan Prepared for 'Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Readiness'?

Surveillance and Reconnaissance UAVs by Deployment and Altitude Are for Reconnaissance Purposes

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] President Yoon Suk-yeol criticized the military's preparedness regarding North Korea's drone airspace violations, but there is criticism that the Defense Mid-term Plan lacks realistic measures to counter North Korean drones.

On the 28th, the Ministry of National Defense announced the '2023~2027 Defense Mid-term Plan,' which outlines military force construction and operational plans for the next five years. The Defense Mid-term Plan is a document prepared annually to build and operate military forces with a mid-term (5-year) perspective.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the mid-term plan, the military will invest 331.4 trillion won over the next five years, with an average annual growth rate of 6.8%. The defense capability improvement budget is expected to total 107.4 trillion won with an average annual growth rate of 10.5%, and the operational budget is expected to total 224 trillion won with an average annual growth rate of 6.8%.

The defense capability improvement budget, which is used to procure weapons, includes plans to secure various surveillance and reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by unit and altitude. This includes currently operational high-altitude UAVs (HUAVs), as well as medium-altitude UAVs (MUAVs) and corps-level UAVs, which can be utilized according to unit size and purpose.

However, these UAVs are reconnaissance drones and not systems designed to counter North Korean drones. The military is preparing portable small drone countermeasures, laser anti-aircraft weapons (Block-1), integrated anti-drone systems, and small UAV countermeasures to strike North Korean drones, but these will only be operational after 2027. Moreover, it is uncertain whether development will be successful in five years. The military is internally reviewing additional drone strike capabilities such as anti-drone strike systems and sniper-type anti-drone weapons, but it is unclear whether these will be reflected in the plan.

President Yoon Suk-yeol stated the day before, "Regarding the North Korean military drone airspace violations, I pointed out the risks of relying on the inter-Korean military agreement in North Korea policy and will expedite the establishment of a cutting-edge stealth drone unit as much as possible."

The stealth drones mentioned by President Yoon are not systems designed to counter North Korean drones but are intended for reconnaissance or unmanned attack purposes. Currently, domestic defense companies are developing two types of stealth unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs).

These include the Stingray series stealth UCAV and the 'low-detection unmanned wingman' designed to escort the Korean Fighter KF-21. The Stingray-X, developed by Korean Air, is a large UAV measuring 10.4 meters in length and 14.8 meters in wingspan, weighing up to 10 tons. Its speed is below Mach 0.5, with a maximum flight time under three hours, flying at altitudes below 10 km. This is based on the 'Manned-Unmanned Teaming' (MUM-T) concept, which operates manned and unmanned weapons together.

A military official said, "To strengthen our capabilities, we will establish a 'drone unit' with various capabilities early on to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance of key enemy military facilities, secure physical and non-physical strike assets, as well as stealth UAVs, and integrate their operation to enhance reconnaissance and other operational capabilities."

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