[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Unmanned Drone to Monitor Kim Jong-un's Office

Drone Operations Command to be Established in September... 100 Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to be Secured by This Month

It has been reported that the military has established an aggressive response principle to send about 10 drones to Pyongyang to retaliate if North Korea carries out drone provocations. This is analyzed as showing the military's strong willingness to respond to the possibility of drone provocations, as trends of North Korea massively developing short- and medium-range drones for reconnaissance against South Korea have been detected.

On the 13th, the Busan Tech Center of Korean Air in Gangseo-gu, Busan, is producing the high-performance 'Multipurpose Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle KUS-FT,' which is advanced with automatic flight capabilities for battalion reconnaissance. The unmanned aerial vehicle has advantages such as steep dives, short-distance landings, automatic takeoff and landing in rough terrain and at night, and parachute landings in emergencies, and it can perform continuous missions for 24 hours.
Busan ? Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

A senior military source said on the 20th, "If North Korea sends one drone over Seoul airspace, the military's internal intention is to send more than 10 times that number of drones to Pyongyang to fly around key targets."

Accordingly, the military is sequentially securing 100 small drones capable of reconnaissance and surveillance over the entire North Korean territory by the end of this month, and it is known to have already secured a sufficient number of long-range reconnaissance drones for operations. The small drones are equipped with flight capabilities of several hundred kilometers per hour, flight control computers, Global Positioning System (GPS), return functions, inertial navigation devices, and are also known to have functions to fly automatically outside communication range and to automatically burn data if they crash in North Korean territory.

In addition, drones capable of long-range reconnaissance at high altitudes using solar cells as fuel have been secured, and stealth-shaped small drones that cannot be detected by North Korean military radar will be developed by the end of the year. The stealth small drones can fly several hundred kilometers per hour on pre-input routes and are equipped with automatic return functions upon mission completion.

The military plans to establish a 'Drone Operations Command,' whose main mission includes drone operations against North Korea, in September.

The 'Drone Operations Command Decree,' which was announced for legislation in April, was approved at the Cabinet meeting on this day. The decree specifies that the command's missions include "strategic and operational-level surveillance, reconnaissance, strike, psychological warfare, electronic warfare, and combat development of drone forces." This means that drones will be utilized as means of defense and offensive operations against various asymmetric threats from North Korea.

A military source emphasized, "After North Korea's drone provocations, the operational system for integrated use of detection, identification, and strike means against drones has been reestablished," adding, "The capability acquisition of the Drone Operations Command, which is already underway at the battalion level, will gain more momentum and establish itself as a core force for deterring and responding to North Korean drone threats."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, in his opening remarks at the Cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office on the same day, said, "Ensure a flawless launch so that the Drone Operations Command can perform perfect operations." On the 20th, Prime Minister Han requested the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to make every effort for the smooth launch of the newly established Drone Operations Command to enable early and flawless operational capability. The Prime Minister stated, "The government intends to establish the Drone Operations Command and process the legal basis for it at today's Cabinet meeting to respond effectively and overwhelmingly to provocations such as drones in the future."

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