President Yoon High Criticizes Defense Minister for North Korean Drone Response
President Yoon appears to be highly upset that the ROK military has not developed the technology to counter North Korean drones:
President Yoon Suk Yeol berated Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup over the military’s failed operation against five North Korean drones that entered South Korean airspace earlier this week, officials said Wednesday.
Yoon met with Lee on Tuesday morning and was briefed on the military’s response to the North’s violation of South Korean airspace the previous day.
The drones flew across the Military Demarcation Line separating the two Koreas, with one flying over northern parts of Seoul, but the South Korean military failed to shoot them down.
“How can there be none preparing against North Korean drone attacks? There were many similar incidents in the past, so what have you been doing until now?” Yoon said during the meeting, according to one official who relayed the exchange.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Yoon is just asking the question for which everyone in the world wants the answer.
They have fancy aircraft carriers with F-35s to match against Japan; but nothing to match $50 radio-controlled model airplanes with cameras and/or small bombs (against which there might have been no defense).
It’s about time the folks taking tax dollars to defend South Korea got more serious about their real job, not measuring their johnsons against the Chrysanthemum crowds’ rubber inserts. And even if Moon had done damage to military programs, they ought to have had contingency plans.
What if next time instead of five, it’s ten waves of a hundred, each with anti-tank or anti-personnel explosives? A hundred drones could easily be prepositioned in trucks, buses, or sheds. A way to knock them down, en masse, at a safe distance (with lasers, microwaves, or gauss-weapons?) must be developed.
The future appears to be swarms/waves of small, low-flying drones with payloads of various sizes.
Curious to see much the war will be influenced by the single Patriot battery “coming soon”.
Anyone suggesting that will do anything is not a serious person.
I bet that launcher runs out of multi-million dollar missiles before Russia runs out of 20K Iranian suicide drones.
And that is just the first wave.
As a leader, that isn’t something one says out aloud in public.
It gives the impression that one doesn’t have any idea what is going on and/or what the actual situation is.
When it comes to countering NK drones, the ROK has made progress since 2014, when it didn’t know NK drones intruded into its airspace until they crashed.
During the recent incursion, the ROK were able to detect the drones coming South and guide assets to intercept.
Of course the intercept attempts weren’t successful, but we are taking about slow flying drones about six feet long, which are more glorified toy airplanes than military UAVs.
And trying to shoot down toy airplanes with 20mm or 30mm cannons or missiles is more like trying to shoot down a mosquito with a M-16 rifle.
The most effective countermeasure in this situation would have been jammers to jam control signals or the internal electronics that control them effectively forcing them down.
A while back when the ROK bought drone detecting radars from Israel, it strangely left out the jammers that come with those radars.(Budgetary constraints?)
Things probably would have turned out differently, but one of the chronic faults of the ROK military is when they procure equipment from overseas, they can’t seem to get it right and end up buying half the capability or have problems with sustaining them.
But anyways, as I said, some progress have been made since the 2014 drone intrusions and the ROK Armed Forces probably were in a difficult situation when those intrusions happened and did what they could, despite their faults.
So simply jumping up and down on the question why they weren’t shot down and the CINC of the Armed Forces asking “so what have you done until now?” doesn’t help.
The question that should have been asked is “What do you need and what needs to be done so this doesn’t ever happen again?”
And after that “OK, we’ll get you what you need, so let’s fix this.”
TOK, you are confusing the way it used to be with the way it is now.
Yoon had to attack to save himself from Nork/Beijing-affiliated media attack mice asking the same questions and blaming him. Just as they did with the Itaewon tragedy, just as they did to President Park over the Sewol tragedy.
Time to catch up with the current “social media” mood…
@TOK, I have to agree with Setnaffa that Yoon is trying to project blame on to the Defense Ministry and putting the onus on them to fix the problem in order to preempt his critics. I give South Korea credit for detecting the drones, but they way they went about intercepting them IMO was not ideal. I am surprised they don’t have at least electronic warfare capabilities yet to defend against drones. The US military is now rolling out anti-drone lasers on its equipment which is the likely the best way to defend against drones:
https://hackaday.com/2022/08/30/militaries-are-rushing-to-get-anti-drone-lasers-operational/
Maybe the ROK needs to ask the US to deploy some of these systems to the ROK until they develop their own.
Protip:
After a few billion in researching, designing, manufacturing, training, and deploying anti-drone laser, the drone users will drop by the hardware store on the way to work, shoo off the homeless huffers, and buy the whole shelf of silver spray paint.
A couple hours later, their Grim Reaper X-666 will look like the Naboo Royal Starship with a propeller.
That’s just in the third world.
First world countries will spend billions to make an environmentally friendly multi-layer stealth coating that absorbs radar signals and reflects IR to UV… known as a “mirror finish” in the industry.
Conclusion:
Anti-drone lasers are the obvious solution if you are 10 years old or have a taxper-funded budget but not if you are 11 or really want to shoot down drones.
LOL, so in other words, even the US military wasn’t ready to shoot down these drones, because they’re NOW starting to roll those anti-drone lasers.
That’s because they keep buying overly and unnecessarily expensive American crap that has no aftermarket service, poor parts availability, constant breakdowns, and an arrogant US attitude towards the Korean side who are sick of waiting for the US suppliers to fix the issues which they can easily fix on their own if they were allowed to. This is what happens when the US monopolizes the weapons trade, and this is exactly why South Korea needs to stop depending on the US for everything and keep building its own defense industry. Let the US build their own unreliable Fords and Chryslers. Korean defense manufacturers can be another Toyota.
For example, just look at the disgraceful state of South Korea’s Global Hawks bought from the US, back ten years ago. Only one of the five that they bought is in service because they’ve been waiting years and years for the US maker to fix the issues. They are crap.
“LOL, so in other words, even the US military wasn’t ready to shoot down these drones, because they’re NOW starting to roll those anti-drone lasers.”
Dont let him find out NBC stands for No Body Cares.
“What if next time instead of five, it’s ten waves of a hundred, each with anti-tank or anti-personnel explosives?”
Don’t send drones to do artillary’s job.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a20314/adam-landmine-swarm/
Oh shut up. Where’s your mask? You got your COVID shot yet?
“Oh shut up.”
That strategy hasn’t ever worked for anyone… but feel free to give it a try.
“Where’s your mask?”
You are wearing it.
But don’t blame me. Blame your mommy for raising a pùssy.
“You got your COVID shot yet?”
Not yet.
Have you fùcked a dog enough?
Actually, my response to you was not hostile.
Despite the fact it has been increasingly clear drones are the next phase in war, especially as even individuals can cause major damage with commercial products on household budgets, the American military is not prepared… and neither is anyone else.
The government has been busy giving welfare to invading foreign trash, worrying about your facebook memes, yapping about an armed insurrection where nobody beought a gun, educating Muslims on the wonders of gender dysphoria, and a long list of other things that aren’t going to stop somebody from sending a Styrofoam airframe with a lawnmower engine packed with TATP, ball bearings, and organic mercury, into a military formation, the Super Bowl, or a convention of guys your mom has blown.
You are absolutely right to note that the American military is not prepared for something they should have been prepared for 10 years ago.
Don’t always be a hater, sweet pea.
I have to agree with Setnaffa that Yoon is trying to project blame on to the Defense Ministry
True…
But, even when US presidents bunt responsiblity to the SecDef, they usually do it behind closed doors, maybe because doing that in public is bad image?
And it doesn’t help that the general public image of Yoon is of a clueless buffoon.
The above will just reinforce that image.