Lone South Korean pilot commands fleet of 100 drones in synchronized operation
The Korean Peninsula is witnessing a rapid advancement in drone technology, with both North and South Korea making significant strides in this field. This development, influenced indirectly by the Ukraine War and the involvement of Russia and Iran, is reshaping the regional security dynamics and military modernization efforts.
North Korea, ruled by Kim Jong-un, maintains one of the world's largest armies, with over a million forces even during peacetime. Recently, state-run media reported that North Korea has used "highly precise drone aircraft" under the supervision of Kim Jong-un. According to Tae Yeon Eom, an analyst from the Canadian think tank Asia-Pacific Foundations, North Korea's offensive and defensive drone warfare techniques and tactics have become significantly more deadly.
The combat experience against Ukraine in the Kursk region has provided North Korea with valuable battlefield experiences for drone warfare. North Korean soldiers, as per Eom, have learned to use weather conditions, such as snow and fog, as cover during drone operations. They have also been observed to lure enemy drones with a single 'decoy' soldier, detect them using portable scanners, and attack them at close range with modified shotguns.
On the other hand, South Korea is in a drone arms race with North Korea, with Seoul appearing to gain an advantage. The South Korean company Nearthlab has developed a new FPV drone called "Xaiden". This drone can form swarms of up to 100 drones controlled by a single operator, thanks to artificial intelligence. The "Xaiden" drone is armed with a 60-millimeter mortar grenade and could potentially be used to create a "locust swarm" of kamikaze drones on the enemy.
The deployment of North Korean soldiers in the Kursk battles has provided usable battlefield experiences for drone warfare. However, the "Xaiden" drone operates with a single leading drone in each swarm communicating with the operator, while the other drones in the swarm communicate exclusively with the leading drone. This design ensures that even in the event of signal losses, the swarm can continue its mission.
The development of drone technology on the Korean Peninsula has been influenced by several key factors. The global proliferation of weaponized drones and asymmetric warfare lessons from Ukraine, where Russian and Ukrainian forces have massively scaled drone production, developed drone-on-drone combat, and integrated sophisticated counter-drone systems, demonstrates the strategic value of drones in modern conflicts.
Russia’s dependency on foreign technologies, especially China, for drone components and engines, partly due to sanctions, also plays a role. Russia’s strategy of mass-producing affordable drones like the Shahed-136 replicas informs how drone manufacturing and supply chains adapt under conflict pressures, which may be studied by Korean defense sectors concerned about sanctions-evasion and hybrid warfare tactics.
Technological trends such as optical fiber guided drones and jamming countermeasures highlight the demand for advanced communications and electronic warfare capabilities in drone systems. The intense drone arms race in Ukraine pushes innovation in sensing, control, and jamming technologies, which could influence drone development emphases on the Korean Peninsula.
Emerging counter-UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) technologies like RF-cyber takeover systems are gaining importance to mitigate drone threats effectively without physical destruction, which is crucial for urban and sensitive environments like those found on the Korean Peninsula.
The broader strategic environment shaped by Russia and Iran’s involvement in proxy conflicts and drone technology transfer affects regional security calculations. Iran’s widely exported drones and Russia’s drone tactics in Ukraine serve as case studies for proliferation concerns in Northeast Asia.
In summary, while the Korean Peninsula’s drone technology development is shaped primarily by its own security context, the Ukraine conflict and the evolving Russian-Iranian drone activities provide critical lessons and technological insights that drive advancements in drone design, mass production, electronic warfare resilience, and counter-drone defense strategies in the region. The growing drone rivalry between the two countries is adding a new asymmetric dimension to the military standoff on the Korean Peninsula, necessitating a new movement in the field, focusing more on looking upwards to see drones early on.
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