As a response to escalating security threats from North Korea, the South Korean military is undertaking a project to introduce the S-300 camcopter in the Navy and the Marine Corps. The total project from 2023 to 2028 costs approximately $1.2 billion.
According to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration of South Korea on June 30, the Shipborne Reconnaissance and Northwest Islands Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Project aims to secure unmanned aircraft for deployment on the Chungmugong Yi Sun Sin class destroyer (KDX-Ⅱ) and the northwest islands such as Yeonpyeong Island and Baengnyeong Island through domestic research and development.
Through the Shipborne Reconnaissance and Northwest Islands Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Project, South Korea challenges for the first time a high-performance rotary-wing unmanned aircraft that can replace sea operation helicopters deployed on land and ships without runways.
The project is led by Hanwha Systems and is expected to consolidate the system with Schiebel’s rotary-wing camcopter equipped with Hanwha Systems’ Electro-Optical (EO)/Infrared (IR) sensor and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR).
The SAR radar is a technology that can image the shape of an object using radar pulses. With the simultaneous installation of EO/IR camera equipment, securing precise and effective all-weather local surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities in various operating environments is possible.
The South Korean Navy has already been using Schiebel’s rotary-wing unmanned aircraft S-100 for over 10 years for maritime information collection, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations.
The S-100 has a self-weight of 242 lbs, a length of 10.2 ft, a top speed of 150 mph, an operational radius of 112 miles, a take-off weight of 440 lbs, can carry mission equipment up to 110 lbs, and can fly for 6 hours at an altitude of 17,716 ft.
In comparison, the technologically advanced and larger camcopter S-300 has a maximum take-off weight that is more than three times that of the S-100 at 1,455 lbs, can transport materials up to 750 lbs, and can fly for up to 24 hours when carrying 110 lbs.
After the Yeonpyeong Island shelling incident, North Korea is estimated to have the capacity to land a marine combat brigade of 4000 to 6000 troops on the northwest islands at once by mobilizing about 120 hovercraft of the 150t class and slightly smaller Nampho class hovercrafts in response to the enhancement of the South Korean military’s artillery capabilities in the northwest islands.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said, “The success of the system development of the Shipborne Reconnaissance and Northwest Islands Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Project will play a big role in deterring North Korean provocations. This will be possible through enhanced 24-hour real-time surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities and preemptive threat detection and response.” They also predicted that it would be widely used in the private sector and connected to K-defense drone exports.
