Tag: drones

Sounds like more North Korean propaganda to try and strike fear in South Korea and impress their own domestic audience with something that probably doesn’t even work:

North Korea has tested a new nuclear-capable underwater attack drone, state media reported on Friday, as leader Kim Jong Un warned joint military drills by South Korea and the U.S. should stop.

During the test, the new North Korean drone cruised underwater at a depth of 80 to 150 metres (260-500 feet) for over 59 hours and detonated a non-nuclear payload in waters off its east coast on Thursday, North Korean state news agency KCNA said.

Reuters

You can read more at the link, but North Korea claims they can make underwater nuclear tsunamis to destroy naval fleets.

Via a reader tip from Korean Man comes this news of some pretty cool anti-drone technology being developed by KAIST. Hopefully is works because drones are clearly going to play a major role in future warfare as we are currently getting a preview of in Ukraine:

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced on Tuesday that its researchers had developed a counter-terror anti-drone technology for use in urban areas.

After finding that drone makers’ control function components have different electromagnetic sensitivity, the research team analyzed the sensitivity-maximizing frequency by drone brand.

With this, the research team proved that the use of narrowband electromagnetic pulse waves can instantly neutralize target drones remotely.

Unlike existing anti-drone technologies, the use of electromagnetic pulse waves with a specific frequency in a narrow bandwidth can minimize the impact on nearby electronic devices.

Even when a group of drones using the same control function components attack, this technology can make the drones fall straight to the ground.

In other words, if 100 enemy drones fly together with 100 ally drones, this technology can take down the enemy drones without influencing ally drones.

Korea Biz Wire

You can read more at the link.

It is interesting that this conclusion is being leaked to media:

The U.S.-led U.N. Command (UNC) has concluded both South and North Korea violated the armistice by sending drones into each other’s territory last month, an informed source said Wednesday.

The UNC recently reached the conclusion after its special team investigated the North’s Dec. 26 drone infiltrations, which led the South to send its drones into the North in a “corresponding” step.

UNC Commander Gen. Paul LaCamera has been briefed on the investigation outcome, the source told Yonhap News Agency, requesting anonymity.

LaCamera, who also heads the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and the U.S. Forces Korea, is said to have been pondering whether to disclose the outcome amid concerns that it could risk friction with the Seoul government.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is surprising that this doesn’t happen more around the THAAD base. The fact someone lost probably around a thousand dollars by losing their drone might deter others from trying this:

Military and police personnel resumed a search Wednesday for a presumed civilian drone thought to have crashed after flying near a U.S. THAAD missile defense unit in a southern county the previous day, officials said.

The authorities are conducting the search in areas close to the base in Seongju, 217 kilometers south of Seoul, while police are investigating who sent the drone and for what purpose.

The Army said chances appear low that the drone was mobilized for espionage. 

U.S. Forces Korea personnel are known to have first detected the drone flying toward the base at 12:54 p.m. Tuesday and used a jamming gun to bring it down, according to defense sources.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The DPK doesn’t seem too interested in defending ROK sovereignty:

The military refuted the opposition party’s claim on Monday that South Korean drones sent to North Korea were a violation of the inter-Korean truce, claiming that the South exercised its right of self-defense.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) defended President Yoon Suk Yeol’s eye-for-an-eye response to five North Korean drones that crossed over the inter-Korean border, Dec. 26, in a clear violation of a 2018 military pact signed between the two sides.

“The border incursion by the North Korean drones was a provocative act that apparently violated the Korean Armistice Agreement, the (1991) Inter-Korean Basic Agreement and the (2018) Sept. 19 military agreement,” Lee Sung-jun, a spokesman for the JCS, told reporters. “It was a proportional response and an exercise of the right to self-defense … Article 51 (of Chapter VII) of the United Nations Charter guarantees the right to engage in self-defense, which will be investigated by the United Nations Command (UNC).”

The remarks came a day after the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) criticized Yoon for the retaliatory response it claimed was a violation of the military pact, under which the two sides agreed to cease hostile activities and take steps to build military trust.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but we all know that if the DPK still had President Moon in power they would be saying this is a great idea.

The Israeli system would further improve the ROK’s detection capabilities against drone attacks, but does not solve their inability to shoot them down:

 South Korea’s military is considering the purchase of an Israeli “electric eye” as part of efforts to bolster its capabilities to detect small North Korean drones, a defense source in Seoul said Sunday.

The move comes as the South’s defense authorities have come under fierce criticism for the failure to counter the penetration of five North Korean drones into its airspace late last month. It was belatedly revealed that one of them even intruded into the no-fly zone, called P-73, near the presidential office in the central district of Yongsan.

In order to beef up its airspace defense system, the military is considering pushing for the speedy acquisition of the Sky Spotter system, according to the source.

Built by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, it is designed for the early detection and tracking of such aerial objects, including drones, as well as balloons and kites, that are used for terrorist attacks.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Former President Moon is not happy about the criticism his administration has received from the current President:

 Former President Moon Jae-in has said his administration established a system to counter North Korean drone infiltrations, according to officials of the main opposition Democratic Party.

Moon made the remarks when DP leaders visited his home in the southeastern city of Yangsan on Monday, apparently in response to criticism from President Yoon Suk Yeol that the North’s recent drone infiltration revealed how Seoul’s military readiness and exercises have been “greatly lacking” over the years.

“Former President Moon said the government had introduced radars and prepared substantially with regard to countering drones,” a DP official who met Moon on Monday told Yonhap News Agency.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I have seen no one criticizing the detection capability. Clearly the ROK military did a good job detecting the drones which Moon’s administration should be given credit for acquiring. However, the inability to shoot them down to include crashing one of their own aircraft is what the criticism of the ROK military has been about.