SEOUL, South Korea — As Ukraine and Iran battle larger, better-armed, high-tech adversaries using economical and attritable unmanned systems, armed forces around the world are taking on board the key lessons.
Take the South Korean navy, which is working up skillsets and technologies capable of countering these asymmetric threats.
The middle power’s navy conducted its first-ever mine-clearance drill combining a crewed vessel with multiple unmanned systems Monday, according to reports from the southeastern port city of Busan.
The trials involved both the South Korean navy and arms company Hanwha Systems, and included an artificial intelligence component. Assets engaged were a 730-ton minesweeper, aerial reconnaissance drones, two surface drones and underwater drones.
Earlier, off Hawaii, the 3,100-ton frigate Daejeon was named “Top Gun” in deck gunnery during the multilateral, U.S.-hosted Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises. The vessel earned the honor after outshooting 13 warships from 10 nations in RIMPAC’s “Naval Surface Fire Support Rodeo” competition.
The win was announced after RIMPAC’s conclusion last Friday.
The two skillsets — mine clearance and deck gunnery — are increasingly in focus as ongoing conflicts make clear the import of economical counters to massed attritable systems.
In the Middle East, Iran’s threats to free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, via such low-expense assets as improvised fast-attack boats and aerial and naval drones, are elevating the importance of old-school gunnery.
Gunfire reduces warships’ reliance on high-cost, difficult-to-manufacture missiles, preserving stockpiles for larger, higher-tech threats.
Mine-clearance capabilities will come to the fore when the current conflict dies down to a tempo low enough to enable a multinational naval force to conduct mine sweeps of the waterway.
According to British think tank Chatham House, Iran has likely deployed around 80 sophisticated Maham-class high-explosive blast mines, which can resist detection from minesweepers’ sonar waves.
As liberal democracies confront recruitment shortfalls and soaring defense budgets, unmanned systems are an emerging solution. They do not require crews, and are, generally, cheaper to operate than manned vessels.
Moreover, with democratic capitals highly casualty-averse, unmanned systems obviate the political risks associated with the arrival, at home, of body bags.
Relatedly, South Korean Rear Adm. Kim In-ho led the recent RIMPAC Combined Force Maritime Component — the first time an Asian officer had done so in the exercise’s history, which stretches back to 1971.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has stated his intention to retake Wartime Operational Control of his nation’s forces by the end of his term, in 2029.
The Combined Forces Command, which unites South Korean and U.S. forces on the peninsula under a joint headquarters, is headed by an American general.
Seoul’s armed forces are being required to meet certain conditions before acquiring “Wartime OPCON.” Hence, stress testing of assets, capabilities and human resources, such as Rear Adm. Kim, is underway.
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