South Korea’s military is exploring the use of multipurpose unmanned ground vehicles to address the country’s shrinking military force in the wake of its declining birthrate. These vehicles are designed for tasks such as surveillance, reconnaissance, and transportation, and are controlled remotely without an onboard human presence.
The country’s two leading defense companies, Hyundai Rotem and Hanwha Aerospace, have been at the forefront of developing these advanced vehicles. Hyundai Rotem’s ‘HR-Sherpa’ and Hanwha Aerospace’s ‘Arion-SMET’ are prime examples, according to the defense industry on Jan. 7.
The electric-powered HR-Sherpa, developed by Hyundai Rotem, is a two-ton multi-purpose unmanned vehicle that can travel at speeds of up to 30 km/h on flat terrain and up to 10 km/h in rugged fields, with a maximum endurance of 12 hours.
The vehicle is equipped with six airless tires with an independent-wheel-drive build that allows all six wheels to operate independently so if one or two wheels are punctured, the remaining wheels can drive the vehicle. The cargo compartment at the rear of the vehicle can carry over 200 kilograms of supplies.
Standout features also include a remote-controlled weapon system, which includes a 5.56mm machine gun and day and night cameras capable of surveillance up to a distance of 4 kilometers at night.
Hanwha Aerospace’s Arion-SMET weighs 1.8 tons and can carry up to 550 kilograms of supplies. This electric-powered, six-wheeled vehicle can travel over 100 kilometers per charge and reach speeds of 43 km/h on paved roads and 34 km/h on unpaved roads.
It is armed with a variety of machine guns and rifles, including 12.7mm and 7.62mm machine guns and a 5.56mm rifle. Arion-SMET is also capable of automatically targeting and tracking targets via radar and features a remote-controlled weapons station (RCWS) that can detect gunfire and respond with return fire.
Arion-SMET was selected by the U.S. Department of Defense for the Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) program in October 2022, marking it as the first multipurpose unmanned ground vehicle developed in Korea to be evaluated for potential U.S. adoption.
Korea’s state arms procurement agency, also known as the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), is preparing for a mass-production program for multipurpose unmanned vehicles. Both Hyundai Rotem and Hanwha Aerospace are expected to be key contenders in this program.
The DAPA has begun developing evaluation criteria aiming at preventing overly aggressive competition between the companies. “The company selected for this upcoming project will most likely secure a significant position in the domestic multipurpose unmanned vehicle market,” said an industry insider.
