Cutting-edge weapons, such as the KAAV amphibious assault vehicle and the Bigung guided rocket, are on display at the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition, or ADEX, that kicked off at KINTEX in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul. Photo by YONHAP / EPA
June 9 (Asia Today) -- Military, industry and academic experts warned Tuesday that South Korea must urgently build an integrated air and missile defense system as drone swarms, artificial intelligence-enabled attacks and missile threats become more complex.
Experts said fragmented air defense weapons cannot respond effectively to modern battlefields where drone swarms are combined with ballistic and cruise missiles. They called for linking sensors, command decisions and interceptors into a unified system.
The Korea Association of Defense Industry Studies hosted the Future of Integrated Air and Missile Defense conference at the Daejeon Convention Center. The Missile Defense Forum organized the event and Northrop Grumman sponsored it.
The conference was held alongside the InLEX KOREA 2026 defense exhibition and drew officials from U.S. Forces Korea, foreign defense attachés, South Korean defense firms and overseas defense companies.
