Korea fast-tracks K-Lucas suicide drone and plans to arm every soldier with UAVs
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back unveiled a major drone overhaul centered on the K-Lucas loitering munition, expanded counter-drone defenses and training for 500,000 troops.
A suicide drone strikes its target during a live-fire exercise in Pocheon, Gyeonggi, on May 28NEWS1
Korea is fast-tracking its own suicide drone system, modeled on a weapon the United States used in combat against Iran.
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back unveiled the program Friday alongside a sweeping overhaul of the military's drone strategy, announcing plans to field new weapons, restructure the drone command and train every soldier in the country to fight with an unmanned aerial vehicle.
At the center of the announcement is the K-Lucas — Korea's Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System — a long-range loitering munition modeled on the Lucas drone system the United States deployed against Iran, which is itself believed to be based on the Iranian Shahed-136 drone, a cheap, one-way attack drone widely used in the war in Ukraine.
The military said it will move to field the weapon as rapidly as possible in response to shifting patterns of modern warfare.
Beyond K-Lucas, the military plans to procure more than 20,000 low-cost expendable drones, including short-range reconnaissance drones and small loitering munitions, while developing next-generation capabilities such as AI-powered drone swarms — systems in which large numbers of drones operate together autonomously to overwhelm a target.
Counter-drone systems and small unmanned aerial vehicle defense systems are slated for deployment to frontline areas in the near future, with commercially proven equipment to be fielded as early as next year. "Over the medium to long term, we will develop and field directed-energy weapons requiring advanced technology — such as lasers and high-power microwave systems — while also moving early to secure a range of low-cost interceptor drones to counter cheap drone threats," Ahn said.
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back sepaks at a press conference at the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan, central Seoul on June 17.NEWS1
The ministry also announced a reorganization of its drone command structure. The existing drone operations command will be dissolved and replaced by a new dedicated policy body operating under the direct authority of the Ministry of National Defense. Operational functions will be transferred to the individual service branches — the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps — while the new headquarters focuses on concept development, requirements identification, acquisition support and cooperation with industry. It will be headed by a major general.
"We will move away from the current system, in which some drone assets are concentrated in specific units, and develop an integrated approach that allows each branch to conduct surveillance, reconnaissance and strike operations in a unified manner," the ministry said. "Each branch will develop drone operating concepts and tactics suited to its own characteristics and missions."
The ministry said it also aims to train 500,000 soldiers to use drones as a standard personal weapon — putting one in the hands of every service member the way a rifle is today.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
