South Korea to train 500,000 military personnel as drone operators

South Korea will train all its military forces to operate drones, aiming to prepare 500,000 authorised personnel across the army, navy, air force and marines to become "drone warriors", defence minister Ahn Gyu-back said on Friday. "All soldiers should be able to use drones like a second personal firearm," he added.

The plan includes procuring about 11,000 commercial drones for training by the end of this year, rising to 60,000 by 2029, and more than 20,000 low-cost disposable combat drones by 2030. Seoul also said it would fast-track a domestically developed long-range loitering munition dubbed K-Lucas; the system takes its name and concept from the American Lucas (low-cost uncrewed combat attack system) drone, itself reverse-engineered from Iran’s Shahed-136 suicide drone, which Russia deploys extensively in Ukraine.

South Korea, Seoul

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