"A drone sank to the sea with a thud." According to Yonhap's report on August 26, the South Korean military attempted for the first time to test domestically produced suicide drones at sea, but it did not go well: both drones crashed into the sea within seconds after taking off from the warships, and the intended target strike phase was not even able to begin. After the second attempt failed, there were sighs among the journalists present and military personnel at the scene.
On the 25th, the South Korean Navy conducted sea tests on a medium-sized suicide drone being developed by the Korea Defense Science Research Institute (ADD) on the large transport ship 'Maro Island' in the southern waters. According to the plan, the drone would be launched from a launcher on the flight deck. While conducting reconnaissance, it would also track and attack an unmanned target boat that moved at high speed, up to 2 kilometers away.
South Korean military drones crashed into the sea during testing. Yonhap News Agency
However, the experiment did not proceed as planned. At around 3:30 PM that day, the first drone took off but crashed into the sea after only a few seconds of flight. ADD then reassembled the equipment and launched another drone at around 5:30 PM. Unfortunately, the second drone also crashed into the sea after only a few seconds of flight.
According to Yonhap, after the second test also failed, there were brief sighs among the journalists and military personnel on board the ‘Marro Island’ ship.
This suicide drone is one of the core technology research projects launched by ADD since 2024. The research objectives include integrated communication with low-orbit satellites and automatic target recognition. The project was originally scheduled to be completed in September this year.
It is worth noting that the drone had successfully conducted tests on land more than 30 times before. Experts related to ADD suspect that the consecutive failures may be related to the marine environment of the ship. Due to the slight vibrations of the ship’s structure, there might be misalignment between the drone’s body and the launch pad, resulting in a “mismatch” in relevant parameters. The expert stated that they will further analyze the specific reasons after returning from the test.
In recent years, the South Korean Navy has been seeking to expand the use of unmanned equipment. It plans to deploy suicide drones on large transport ships and next-generation landing ships. After a failed test, Commander-in-Chief of the South Korean Navy, Kwon Kwang-seop, stated, "Today's test is not over," and continued attempts will be made in the future.
