한화시스템(대표이사 어성철)이 세계적 수준의 레이다·열상감시장비·AI 표적식별 기술로 군집드론 공격까지 방어하며, 적의 드론 공격으로부터 우리 영공의 철통 방어에 나선다.
“Blocking drone swarm attacks with world-class radar, thermal surveillance equipment, and AI target identification technology”
Hanwha Systems (CEO Sung-chul Eo) is defending our airspace from enemy drone attacks with world-class radar, thermal surveillance equipment, and AI target identification technology, including swarm drone attacks.
Hanwha Systems announced on the 22nd that it has won two consecutive contracts for low-altitude counter-drone system projects, the first of their kind in Korea, to block attack drones.
In order to respond to the threat of illegal drones and small unmanned aerial vehicles infiltrating important areas, Hanwha Systems is building a mobile, multi-layered, composite defense anti-drone system that can strike with soft kills (jamming) and hard kills (net capture and laser) by segmenting them by facility type and distance to be installed in important facilities.
To this end, on the 21st, a contract was signed with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration for the 'Important Area Anti-Drone Integrated System' project worth approximately 30 billion won.
The critical area drone integrated system is the first ‘facility-type’ drone protection system to be operationalized by our military. It is designed to defend against drone attacks targeting key Army, Navy, and Air Force facilities, such as air force bases and naval ports. It detects and identifies small unmanned aerial vehicles that infiltrate airspace, and then renders them inoperable through jamming.
Hanwha Systems is installing and operating an 'integrated counter-drone system' capable of neutralizing target drones, consisting of: △detection radar, △electro-optical (EO)/infrared (IR) thermal surveillance equipment for identifying and tracking illegal drones, △jammer for neutralizing targets, and △integrated console (operating device).
Specialized in facility protection, it is expected to be deployed in key national infrastructure such as nuclear power plants, airports, and data centers in the future.
Meanwhile, on the same day, the 21st, Hanwha Systems also signed a contract with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration for the rapid demonstration acquisition project, the 'Drone Response Multi-Layered Composite Defense System.'
The rapid demonstration acquisition program is a system that quickly introduces civilian products that use new 4th industrial revolution technologies such as AI and drones, verifies their usability through military demonstration operations, and determines requirements.
Hanwha Systems' 'Drone Countermeasure Multi-Layered Composite Defense System' detects illegal drones over 3km away with radar, automatically tracks them with electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR) thermal surveillance equipment, and neutralizes the target with multi-layered composite responses at distances of '3km-2km-1km'.
Combining soft kill and hard kill methods, the order is: △jamming at a distance of 3 km, △capturing with a ‘net-type’ killer drone in a 3-2 km range, and △intercepting with a high-power laser device when the drone enters within 1 km of a key or contact area.
To ensure mobility and defend urban areas and important areas, the components were installed on a vehicle and developed into a mobile version.. It is capable of omnidirectional detection at a 90-degree elevation angle and 360-degree azimuth.
The contract period is from December 2023 to December 2024, and the contract amount is approximately 5 billion won. The products will be delivered to the Army and Navy within 6 months, and after a 6-month trial operation period, whether or not to raise military needs will be decided.
Park Do-hyun, head of the command and control business unit at Hanwha Systems, said, “As attack drones have recently established themselves as game changers in international conflict zones, the market for counter-drone systems to defend against them is also rapidly growing,” adding, “We will combine Hanwha Systems’ world-class radar and thermal surveillance equipment technologies, AI target identification technology that can distinguish drone objects that can easily be mistaken for flocks of birds, and multi-layered composite drone response capabilities to block swarm attacks by small drones flying in from various routes.”
Hanwha Systems is standardizing and improving the anti-drone system capable of multi-layered complex defense, AI identification, and collateral damage prevention, and is moving into follow-up mass production. In order to enter the export market, it plans to diversify its product line based on facility-type and mobile anti-drone models.