South Korea has unveiled the newest K-CEV unmanned engineering vehicle created on the K21 IFV platform. It is currently undergoing testing, after which serial production is planned to begin.
The new equipment was demonstrated in an Arirang News segment. It is claimed to be capable of clearing and demining paths for military unit passage with reduced risk to personnel.
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Armament consists of a combat module equipped with a grenade launcher and machine gun with artificial intelligence-based target recognition. It is also reported to be equipped with various drones.
The video shows a robot dog and a tracked demining robot, though it is unknown whether they are associated with K-CEV or operate separately. The vehicle is claimed to double the demining process speed.
Interestingly, the remote control is optional, meaning the crew can be present inside if necessary and perform work manually. Otherwise, a control panel is used, which the correspondent shows on herself wearing a backpack resembling a transmitter.
Defense Express notes that transforming specifically an engineering vehicle for clearing paths for advances into an unmanned ground vehicle makes sense. Such equipment not only has an increased risk of mine detonation but also typically moves ahead of others, essentially becoming the first possible enemy target.
At the same time, it remains unknown how they plan to address countermeasures against enemy jamming and electronic warfare systems, which will definitely be employed on the modern battlefield. This is one of the biggest problems for modern ground robots.
Another critical question is ensuring protection against strike UAVs, which today represent the greatest threat to armored vehicles. Naturally, active protection systems like KAPS could be installed, but their absence currently represents a vulnerability.
Using the base K21 IFV chassis will help with unification, simplifying military adoption and subsequent maintenance. Recall that it is being promoted to Romania in AS21 modification with localization.
South Korea is currently working on creating unmanned ground vehicles based on tanks, self-propelled howitzers, and multiple rocket launchers, acting as one of their largest producers worldwide. Given their popularity in the global market, this creates an export sales window.
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