Domestic researchers have developed the world's first next-generation fire suppression system capable of autonomously detecting and precisely extinguishing oil fires on naval vessels. This technology is expected to dramatically improve the survivability and combat capabilities of ships by determining whether there is an actual fire based on artificial intelligence (AI) and enabling accurate targeting even in a maritime environment.

A research team led by Senior Researcher Lee Hyuk at the AX Convergence Research Center of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) announced on the 6th that, as part of the 'Civil-Military Commercialization Linkage Project,' they developed an autonomous initial suppression firefighting system specialized for oil fires on ships and successfully completed actual ship tests.

This study was jointly conducted by the Agency for Defense Development Civil-Military Cooperation Promotion Agency, Korea Institute of Construction Technology, Chungnam National University, Super Century Co., Ltd., and the Korea Military Academy.

Existing fire extinguishing systems for naval vessels discharge extinguishing agents across the entire affected area upon the occurrence of a fire, which resulted in damage caused by false alarms and limitations in targeting in maritime environments.

On the other hand, KIMM's autonomous fire extinguishing system combines AI-based precision fire detection with reinforcement learning algorithms to reflect waves and hull movements in real time, and sprays extinguishing water intensively only to the actual fire source.

This system consists of a fire detection sensor, a fire extinguishing monitor, and an analysis and control device, and boasts a fire detection accuracy of over 98% and a spray distance of up to 24m.

It has been verified to operate stably even in sea state 3, and in full-scale tests on the LST-II class amphibious assault ship 'Ilchulbong', it succeeded in accurately aiming at a fire source 18m away under wave height of 1m.

The research team constructed a large-scale land-based simulation facility that replicates the actual ship environment and conducted AI training and performance verification by simulating various oil fire and non-fire situations.

It demonstrated excellent performance in open-field and shielded fire suppression tests, increasing its potential for practical application.

Senior Researcher Lee Hyuk said, “This technology is applicable not only to warships but also to ammunition depots, munitions warehouses, and aircraft hangars, "It is applicable to various fields such as offshore plants, and will be expanded to civilian vessels and petrochemical facilities in the future to significantly improve fire safety at sea and industrial sites," they stated.