South Korea to train entire military as drone warriors
▼ Summary
– South Korea plans to train all nearly 500,000 military members to operate drones as easily as personal firearms, aiming to make drones a “universal combat tool.”
– The defense minister announced the goal on June 26, alongside plans to equip units with cheap, expendable drones for surveillance and strike, and deploy counter-drone lasers.
– The former drone operations command will be reorganized to focus on collaborating with South Korean industry to develop and procure commercial drone technology.
– The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East inspired these military reforms emphasizing drone technologies.
– Ukraine’s use of drones as a force multiplier against a larger Russian military resonates with South Korea, which faces a numerical disadvantage against North Korea’s 1.2 million active-duty soldiers.
South Korea has announced an ambitious plan to train every member of its nearly 500,000-strong military to operate drones with the same ease they handle personal firearms. The initiative, unveiled as part of a broader push to maintain a technological edge in the decades-long standoff with North Korea, aims to make drones a “universal combat tool” for all troops.
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back stated during a June 26 briefing that drones should become a “second personal weapon” for every soldier, according to Reuters and other outlets. Alongside this training mandate, the military will equip individual units with more affordable and expendable drones for surveillance and strike missions, while also deploying additional counter-drone lasers and microwave weapons.
In a parallel restructuring, South Korea’s former drone operations command, which previously held direct authority over combat units, will shift its focus to collaborating with domestic industry on developing and procuring commercial drone technology, as reported by The Korea Times. The defense minister specifically cited the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East as key inspirations for these reforms, emphasizing the growing importance of drone technologies in modern warfare.
South Korea is far from alone in looking to Ukraine’s battlefield innovations for guidance. Many nations are studying how Ukraine uses drones and military robots as a force multiplier to offset its numerical disadvantage against Russia’s larger military. This lesson carries special resonance for Seoul: the South Korean military currently fields about 450,000 active-duty personnel, facing a North Korean force of more than 1.2 million soldiers. By embedding drone proficiency across the entire force, South Korea aims to counter that imbalance while preparing for the conflicts of tomorrow.
(Source: Ars Technica)
