Drone taxi demonstration A drone taxi developed by Kencoa Aerospace, a South Korean drone maker, flies in an urban air mobility demonstration event on the country’s southern Jeju Island on Sept. 21, 2022. (Yonhap)
Defense industry fair Small drones launched by a larger one attack targets in a demonstration at Defense and Security (DX) Korea 2020, an international defense industry fair, at an exhibition center in Ilsan, north of Seoul, on Nov. 18, 2020. (Yonhap)
GS Caltex drone deliveryGS Caltex demonstrates drone delivery at its logistics center in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul, on April 8, 2020. The photo, provided by the company, shows government officials and researchers from a state-run lab that helped develop the drone.(Yonhap)
Korea public procurement fairPrime Minister Lee Nak-yon (2nd from L) looks at displays at the 2019 Korea Public Procurement Expo at an exhibition center in Goyang, north of Seoul, on April 24, 2019. (Yonhap)
Employees of Korea Post demonstrate drone delivery service at a post office in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, on Aug. 8, 2018, in this photo courtesy of Korea Post. (Yonhap)
It will be interesting to see how reliable the drones will be in the mountains during the winter months if they do move forward with this plan:
The Defense Ministry says it plans to use drones to transport military supplies to mountainous areas.
A South Korean military official says starting this year, the military will begin testing drone transport of common military items like ammunition and first aid equipment.
Drones are far cheaper and can reach difficult or denied areas.
If the testing works out, all branches of the military would eventually adopt drone transport technology and the military would aim to commercialize it within five years. [KBS World Radio]
USFK has some new capability forward deployed on the peninsula:
The U.S. is to deploy new attack drones in South Korea that could be used to kill North Korean leaders and launch pinpoint strikes on its missile launch pads.
Twelve Gray Eagle/MQ-1Cs will arrive at an air base in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province in March and April. Their deployment coincides with joint South Korea-U.S. drills that will be staged in early April right after the closing of the Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang.
Construction of a hangar and other support facilities was completed late last month, and support personnel have already arrived. [Chosun Ilbo]
The ROK military is embracing the future of combat by using swarms of cheaply made and weaponized drones to attack enemy targets:
South Korean troops use reconnaissance drones during training in this file photo provided by the Korea Army Academy at Yeong-Cheon. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s Army will create a combat unit of weaponized drones next year to help counter North Korea’s threats, an official said Tuesday.
The Army calls the envisioned defense asset a “dronebot,” a combination of the words “drone” and “robot.”
“The Army plans to set up a special organization to lead the development of dronebots, establish a standard platform and expand the dronebot program by function,” the Army official said, requesting anonymity. “To begin with, we will launch a dronebot combat unit next year and use it as a ‘game changer’ in warfare.”
The team will operate reconnaissance dronebots against such core North Korean targets as nuclear and missile sites. In case of a contingency, swarms of dronebots will be mobilized to launch attacks. [Yonhap]
It looks like the newspaper delivery boy is on the verge of becoming obsolete:
A drone operated by Korea Post takes off from a port in Goheung, South Jeolla, to deliver mail and packages to the residents of Deungnyang Island, which is about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) off the coast. [KOREA POST]Jang In-kil, the lone mailman on Deungnyang Island off the coast of South Jeolla, travels to a port in Goheung, some 40 minutes away from the island, by boat at 8 a.m. every day to pick up mail and packages for the residents of the island. By the time Jang returns with the mail, it’s already 3 p.m., which means it takes over eight hours every day for him to collect the mail for his neighbors on the island.
That eight-hour trip may be shortened to just one hour, thanks to a new delivery service by government-operated drones.
Korea Post, the national postal service provider, on Tuesday started a trial run of its delivery drone on Jang’s daily route. The drone flew the 3.8-kilometer (2.4-mile) trip from the port in Goheung to a community center on the island in just 10 minutes, half an hour less than the time Jang had to spend on the sea every day. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but I wonder if South Korea will have the same regulatory issues preventing drone delivery that Amazon is experiencing in the US?
