'Hanwha Aerospace vs. Hyundai Rotem' Showdown... Multipurpose Unmanned Vehicle Vendor to Be Decided Today [Yang Nakgyu's Defence Club]

DAPA to Make Final Decision at Subcommittee Meeting at 2 p.m.

First Mass Production of Unmanned Weapon System Expected to Have Significant Export Impact

The vendor for the Army’s next-generation core system, the multipurpose unmanned vehicle project, will be determined on July 16. Given its symbolic importance as the first mass production of an unmanned ground weapon system, as well as the potential for exports, winning this project is expected to have significant impact for the defense company selected.

According to government officials, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) is scheduled to hold a session of the Defense Project Planning and Management Subcommittee at 2:00 p.m. on the same day to decide on the multipurpose unmanned vehicle vendor. The multipurpose unmanned vehicle is a core asset of the Army’s future combat system “Army Tiger 4.0.” It can be used for surveillance, security, material transport, evacuation of injured soldiers, and combat support. In addition, autonomous driving technology allows the vehicle to replace soldiers in deploying to dangerous areas.

The companies participating in this project are Hanwha Aerospace and Hyundai Rotem, competing with their respective models, “Arion-SMET” and “HR-SHERPA.” Although the scale of the project is not large at 50 billion won, the industry is focused on its symbolic significance as the first mass production and its potential impact. Securing this project would provide an advantageous position in future next-generation unmanned system developments, as well as an opportunity to capture the export market. According to market research firm Global Information, the global unmanned ground system market is expected to grow by over 190%, from approximately 6.6 trillion won last year to 19 trillion won by 2035.

Fierce competition between the companies has led to ongoing debate. DAPA decided to evaluate the models based on physical performance assessments. Hyundai Rotem argued that if its vehicle’s performance in the live evaluation exceeds what was proposed in the written proposal, the higher performance should be fully recognized. In contrast, Hanwha Aerospace insisted the figures in the proposal should be set as the upper limit. As concerns about delays in force deployment grew, Hyundai Rotem changed its stance in early April and decided to participate in the evaluation, bringing the project to the current model selection stage.

A DAPA official stated, “The multipurpose unmanned vehicle project is being carried out fairly and transparently in accordance with relevant laws and procedures,” adding, “We will ensure the ongoing model selection evaluations and related processes proceed without disruption so that the project is not delayed further.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.