The countries of the Far East are very easy to introduce and master the latest technologies. But even against their background, South Korea stands out for its super-susceptibility to all innovations. This is reflected in the military as well. According to the plans for the development of the armed forces of South Korea until 2020, one of the main priorities of the process of re-equipping and modernizing the army is the development and adoption of robots that can actually replace South Korean soldiers on the battlefield in the not too distant future. The program provides for the development and implementation of robots in two main areas: light combat robots and heavy robots, similar to BMP. Although there are still enough difficulties, the first prototypes have already shown themselves at exhibitions, and a number of companies have even demonstrated combat systems that are almost ready for adoption. This boom in the Korean robotics industry is fueled by strong government support for such initiatives and ambitious plans by the country's leadership in this area.
South Korea, like no other country, understands very well the importance of having a good combat-ready army. There is only one reason for this, but a very compelling one. Literally 40 km from the South Korean capital of Seoul, immediately behind the demilitarized zone, there are units of the more than a million army of North Korea, for which, despite all the talk of politicians about "friendship with blood brothers" and the recently actively developed inter-Korean economic cooperation it is the capitalist South that is the main enemy. Although since 2006 South Korea, primarily for political reasons, has ceased to officially consider the DPRK "the main adversary," but for the military so far everything remains the same: both from the South and the North along the four-kilometer demilitarized zone dividing the two parts of the Korean peninsula, about 70 percent of the armed forces of both countries are concentrated. Southerners also call for vigilance and other statistics: in just half an hour, North Korean long-range artillery from their current positions can unleash about half a million shells on Seoul.
The South Korean Armed Forces (AF) have been implementing a multi-billion dollar plan to reform the armed forces since 2005. It provides for the reduction of the Republic of Korea's Armed Forces by almost a quarter - from the current 690 to 500 thousand people. Note that both in the capitalist South and in the socialist North, the army is recruited mainly on a conscription basis. True, if the ROK (South) with a population of 50 million has an army of 690 thousand and a term of service of two years, planning to reduce both the number of the armed forces and the terms of military service, then the DPRK (North) with a population of 23 million has an army of 1 million 100 thousand, the term of compulsory service in seven years and does not intend to reduce anything.
Two types of combat robots of the future
According to experts, the South Korean army is forced to reduce its numbers, including because the country's birth rate is one of the lowest in the world. As a result, it is predicted that the country's armed forces will not be able to receive a sufficient number of recruits in the near future. They plan to compensate for the shortage in personnel with more modern and powerful types of weapons, including robots, which will reduce potential human losses in the event of an armed conflict.
The program for reforming the armed forces of the Republic of Korea provides for the creation and adoption by 2020 of two main types of robots, the development of which is going on in parallel. The first type will be a small device weighing several tens of kilograms, while the second will represent a full-fledged combat vehicle the size of a small BMP.
The defense development agency of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Information and Communications are participating in the project to create combat robots. The military is responsible for creating the mechanics of the model, most technologies and weapons, while the latter are responsible for the remote control system and other electronic "stuffing".
It is expected that a really working prototype of the first type of military robots being created should appear already in 2011. It has already received its rather curious name - "kyonma", which in translation from Korean means "dog-horse". It is not yet known exactly what this robot will look like, but according to published drawings, these "soldiers of the future" will be about 40 cm tall and resemble sphinxes without wings with weapons or equipment mounted on them. Its weight is no more than 20 kilograms, which will allow one person to carry it. The robot will have either eight wheels or six legs, which will allow the machine to move like an insect, climb stairs and overcome almost any obstacle. This machine will be able to conduct reconnaissance, search and observation on the ground, as well as detect mines. The versatile equipment platform also allows it to be equipped with small arms, visual surveillance, chemical and radiation detectors. For the implementation of this part of the program, the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan has allocated 33.4 billion South Korean won (about 40 million US dollars).
The next stage provides for the creation of more powerful and improved samples of this type of robots. Their appearance is scheduled no later than 2013. They will be equipped with a variety of weapons, including large-caliber machine guns, and will be able to work both independently and following the commands of the operator located at the command post.
In parallel, the creation of a second type of combat robots is underway. These will already be full-fledged heavy combat vehicles weighing over a ton, shaped like an infantry fighting vehicle. Their provisional name is EAV (Experimental Autonomous Vehicle). The first working samples have already been demonstrated, and a number of tactical and technical characteristics have become known. So, the model shown in 2006 at the exhibition was 3.1 m in length, one and a half meters in height and weighed 1200 kg. Travel speed - up to 30 km / h, and it runs on batteries. The lighter and more mobile version weighed 900 kg, developed a speed of up to 45 km / h, but was already running on gasoline.
EAV is equipped with a large-caliber machine gun, video camera, radioactivity sensors, communication equipment and other equipment. It is also possible to install more powerful artillery weapons or guided shells. The self-propelled gun controls an operator in the rear at a distance of 1 km from the front line, from where it operates all onboard equipment such as a Global Positioning System (GPS), a television reconnaissance camera and a laser scanner.
It is assumed that the EAV will perform two main tasks - reconnaissance and warfare. According to the representative of the South Korean "Center for the Development of Intelligent Robots", this type of combat vehicles can be especially useful in conditions of warfare in the city.
According to the plans of the Defense Development Agency (AOR) of the Republic of Korea, the supply of weapons to the Armed Forces of the Republic of Korea should begin as early as 2015. 15 billion won (about $ 17 million) has been allocated for this project. Park Yong-un, the manager of the AOR combat robots development group, said that at the moment there are already technologies that make it possible to create a single base of a combat vehicle. “As soon as the representatives of the army, air force and navy receive official applications for the purchase of these robots, we will begin to create machines adapted to the specific needs of each branch of the military,” explained Pak.
Robots as part of a new concept of warfare
At the same time, the Koreans do not hide the fact that they borrowed the concept of development of this still new type of combat vehicles from the United States, where the implementation of the 30-billion-dollar project to create future combat systems (FCS - Future Combat System) is already in full swing.
In many respects, again under the influence of American ideas and novelties in the general plan of reforming the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2020, a lot of attention is paid to the new concept of warfare, in which robots play an important role.
In the most general approximation, this concept in relation to robots is as follows. In addition, there will be the possibility that a lightweight reconnaissance robot for its own purposes will first release a small portable reconnaissance robot of minimum size, while controlling it. A constant exchange of information and coordination of actions will be carried out between all participants in hostilities. At the initial stage, it is planned that the robots will operate only under the direct control of a person through remote control systems. However, then, as technology improves, the "iron soldiers" will be given more and more independence.
From words to deeds
The Koreans have already proved that they not only dream of the appearance of combat robots, but also take real steps. In the last two to three years, a fairly large number of ready-to-use robots have appeared in South Korea. Although they are not yet the planned complex types of machines such as "kyonma" or EAV, they are already capable of performing combat missions.
For example, the South Korean military contingent Zaytun, stationed in Iraq, is already making extensive use of the Robhaz demining robot, created by the Korean company Yujin. This machine independently searches for mines, as well as toxic substances and radioactive materials, giving a special sound signal when they are detected.
In addition, another South Korean company, Samsung Techwin Co. with the support of the government has already created a working version of the "robot-border guard". According to the representative of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Li Jae Hong, the vehicle has systems for detecting, tracking down the enemy, as well as a weapon - a light machine gun K-3. In addition, the robot has a built-in speech unit that allows it to issue warnings to a potential intruder. The machine is equipped with conventional, night and infrared vision devices. The equipment makes it possible to distinguish between moving objects the size of a person: during the day - at a distance of up to two kilometers, at night - up to a kilometer. When an intruder approaches, contrary to the warnings of the robot, it is possible to automatically open fire to kill. The device weighs 117 kg, its height is 120 cm. As it became known, at the end of 2007, the Ministry of Defense of South Korea had already begun installing this type of robots along the 248 km demilitarized zone that separates the Republic of Korea from the DPRK.
The new is not easy, but the future belongs to it.
Of course, it cannot be said that everything for South Korea in the field of creating combat robots is developing very smoothly. Serious obstacles are also enough.
There are still problems with the recognition of human speech by the robot, where this is provided. If the creators are ready to experiment, then the military themselves, whom, in theory, the "iron soldiers" should help, treat robots with some skepticism. This is especially true of endowing machines with such autonomy that would allow them to open fire on their own. On a purely psychological level, there is a fear, backed up by many science fiction books, that the robot will "get mad" and start shooting at its own people. In this regard, at the current (initial) stage, the emphasis is on the introduction of robots that would perform the functions of reconnaissance, demining, etc. without equipping them with weapons.
The question of introducing new combat vehicles into the standard combat scheme by specific units remains open. It's one thing to place robots along the border, where they, in fact, play the role of more advanced security cameras with the ability to shoot, it is another thing when robots are supposed to perform serious combat missions. The major, who asked to name only his last name - Lee, serving in one of the mechanized infantry divisions near Seoul, told the correspondent of "Brothers": the battlefield functions of soldiers - in this regard, even preparatory work has not yet been carried out at the level of specific units."
At the same time, all these problems will sooner or later be resolved, and combat robots will begin to be widely used in the armed forces of South Korea. And this is not a question of the distant future, but of the coming years. Moreover, these improvements are incorporated in the very concept of the development of the armed forces. The same Major Lee admitted: “At one time we also shied away from computers, but when we threatened that they would be fired from the army for computer illiteracy, we quickly learned everything. If they give a command, we will put the robots in operation,”the officer assured, admitting that“now the incentive is very good: the army is being cut down and it concerns officers in many respects, so in order not to fly out, we will master everything instantly”.
In general, we note that combat robots are very important, but only one of the many components of the general strategy for the development of the robot industry in South Korea. According to the plans of the government of the country, by 2013 Kazakhstan should come to the third place - after the USA and Japan - in the world in terms of the level and scale of development of the industry, occupying 15% of the world market in this area. It is planned that soon robots will appear in various spheres of life in the country, and by 2010 - in every family. Robots will clean apartments, teach children, read books aloud, connect to the Internet, order food, and do much more. Within five years, South Korea intends to export robots overseas worth two billion dollars, while producing them for 30 billion. It is on robots that the bet is made as an industry that will provide profits in the future. By 2020, South Korea is expected to generate more revenue from this industry than from its extremely powerful and developed automotive industry.
There are reasons for such ambitious plans. The Ministry of Trade, Industry, Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan recently released statistics, according to which only 6,000 robots were sold in South Korea in 2004, and 40,000 in 2005. In 2006, this figure was 100 thousand and is expected to double by the end of 2007. Although robots here primarily mean devices that clean the floors themselves, the growth of interest and demand is obvious. Many see the reasons for this desire to join mechanical assistants in the fact that the population of our planet is steadily aging, and the birth rate is falling.
According to Mr. Oh Sang Rok, who oversees the project for creating robots at the Ministry of Information and Communication of the Republic of Korea, this is nothing fantastic. “Very soon, these devices will become an integral part of our life, performing a variety of functions - from teachers and housewives to police and military,” he stressed.
As you can see, "robotization" is envisaged for the entire South Korean society, so there is hardly any doubt that in the armed forces they will be "put into operation" very soon. Moreover, the go-ahead has already been given, the money has been allocated, the plans have been drawn up and are being implemented.
