LIG Nex1, Unmanned Surface Vehicle System Integration Test Facility Completion Ceremony

LIG Nex1 held a completion ceremony for the unmanned surface vessel (USV) dedicated system integration test facility at Gumi House.

This new test facility, established to fully support the Republic of Korea Navy's vision of implementing a maritime manned-unmanned complex system, is expected to accelerate the development of unmanned surface vessel technology in the future.

The completion ceremony was held at 2 p.m. on the 23rd at Gumi House to commemorate the establishment of the system integration test facility.

The event was attended by LIG Nex1 CEO Kim Ji-chan, Ku Ja-geun, a member of the National Assembly from the People Power Party, Gumi Mayor Kim Jang-ho, and representatives from the Navy, Defense Acquisition Program Administration, Agency for Defense Development, Defense Technology Quality Institute, Defense Technology Promotion Research Institute, and other key organizations and partner companies.

The test facility, which received its usage approval in June, has a total floor area of over 1,000㎡ and was built with LIG Nex1's own investment. It is equipped with crane facilities capable of assembling and inspecting four unmanned surface vessels simultaneously, as well as a water tank with a capacity of approximately 1,000 tons.

At the test facility, system integration tests are conducted to inspect each subsystem unit composed of ▲platform ▲autonomous navigation device ▲central control unit ▲wireless communication unit ▲armament ▲surveillance and reconnaissance unit ▲underwater search unit. These tests aim to improve overall performance and operational capability.

Another feature of the test facility is its optimized structure tailored to the characteristics of the unmanned surface vessel development project. Through this, LIG Nex1 has secured dedicated production and testing facilities for various mission types of unmanned surface vessels.

The test facility will also be used for pre-functional checks such as linked simulation tests during system development and mass production of unmanned surface vessels. Firefighting and safety facilities for worker safety, as well as water purification facilities to prevent contamination of the water tank, have also been established.

Participants at the completion ceremony of the LIG Nex1 unmanned surface vessel dedicated system integration test building are cutting the tape.

In 2015, LIG Nex1 succeeded in developing the coastal surveillance and reconnaissance unmanned surface vessel ‘Haegum (海劍, Sea Sword)’ as the lead organization for a civilian-military technology application research project promoted by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the Civil-Military Cooperation Promotion Agency.

The Haegum series, a maritime unmanned platform prepared for future warfare, has evolved into Haegum-II, Haegum-III, Haegum-V, and M-Hunter to perform various missions depending on the mission equipment.

‘Haegum-II’ is equipped with an underwater platform (ROV: Remotely Operated Vehicle) module mounted on the stern, capable of automatic launch and recovery (LARS: Launch and Recovery System) underwater, providing underwater surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.

‘Haegum-III’ is equipped with a 12.7mm heavy machine gun at the front as well as a 2.75-inch guided rocket (Bigung) launcher. It is the first domestic model to complete performance tests in real sea conditions at Sea State 4 (maximum wave height 2.5m), enabling 24-hour operation without manned personnel even in harsh maritime environments.

Haegum-V is a dedicated unmanned surface vessel for shipboard deployment that can separate from the mothership upon detection of suspicious targets to identify and respond immediately.

The M-Hunter, developed as a Korea-Australia international joint research project, is expected to contribute to enhancing mine countermeasure (MCM) capabilities in the future through heterogeneous swarm operations with autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).

LIG Nex1 CEO Kim Ji-chan stated, “Unmanned surface vessels are considered key weapon systems for future warfare,” adding, “We will do our utmost to ensure that the completion of this unmanned surface vessel system integration test facility leads to achievements encompassing not only research and development but also mass production and export.”

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