Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

KRIT publishes an issue paper on level evaluation

“Our military will reach semi-autonomous level within a short time”

On November 2, the Korea Research Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Advancement (KRIT) published Issue Paper No. 22-5 under the theme ‘evaluation of the Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T) technology level,’ and unveiled the results of its analysis and evaluation of the level of related domestic technologies.

The MUM-T contributes to maximizing combat effectiveness and minimizing casualties. The need for and the application of MUM-T has been expanded with changes in the social environment and the development of science and technology.

Leading technologically advanced countries are racing to study the MUM-T performance concept and technology development using advanced science and technologies.

Our country has also selected force integration on MUM-T as one of the main projects of the Defense Innovation 4.0 initiative, and is working on a MUM-T implementation plan by phase, including △ remote control (~2023) △ semi-autonomous (2024~2027) △ fully autonomous (2028~).

The publication of this issue paper was based on KRIT’s intent to prioritize an evaluation of the current technology level in order to establish an efficient research and development (R&D) strategy for the phased implementation plan.

To this end, KRIT analyzed MUM-T technology and evaluated the technology level by phase through a survey on the current development status both inside and outside the country, and questionnaires for and discussions with experts from all walks of life.

According to the issue paper, the phase 1 remote control level stands at technology commercialization and the phase 2 semi-autonomous level stands at trial development. The KRIT also explained that it is possible to reach the semi-autonomous technology level within a relatively short period of time. The issue paper can be checked at the website of KRIT (www.krit.re.kr).

By Hyun-woo, Seo <lgiant61@dema.mi.kr>

<Copyright ⓒ The Korea Defense Daily, All rights reserved>