Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back speaks during a press briefing on drone and counter-drone policy at the Defense Ministry headquarters in Seoul on Friday. Photo by Yonhap
SEOUL, June 26 (UPI) -- South Korea unveiled a sweeping plan Friday to rapidly expand the military's drone and counter-drone capabilities, citing lessons from modern conflicts and North Korea's growing military cooperation with Russia.
The Defense Ministry's new strategy calls for acquiring more than 20,000 low-cost reconnaissance and loitering drones by 2030 and accelerating the deployment of homegrown K-Lucas long-range suicide drones. It also calls for expanding counter-drone capabilities with technologies including laser weapons, high-power microwave systems and interceptor drones.
The plan seeks to train 500,000 "drone warriors" across all branches of the military, Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said at a press briefing Friday, so that "all soldiers have the ability to use drones as a second personal weapon."
"This is a weapon system that anyone can easily handle like a personal firearm," Ahn said.
