According to a PR published by LIG Nex1 on January 2021, the company has successfully completed the project for developing the Haegeom-2 (Sea Sword) unmanned surface vehicles (hybrid platform integration and operation control technologies for real-time underwater reconnaissance and surveillance) that has been implemented for about three years from 2018 to this year.
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Haegeom-2 (Sea Sword) Unmanned Surface Vessel (Picture source: LIG Nex1)
The project has been jointly funded by "the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy" and "Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA)" and was based on the dual-use technology development program promoted by Civil-Military Technology Cooperation Center under the Agency for Defense Development.
Haegeom-2 unmanned surface vehicles developed by local technologies are expected to help Korea lower its dependence on imported technologies and secure technological competitiveness and thereby serve as an opportunity to further develop local marine unmanned systems and robot industries.
In particular, the Haegeom-2 project enabled Korea to secure core technologies for real-time reconnaissance and surveillance in high tidal current areas (current speeds of 5 knots or faster) via the first combination of hybrid unmanned underwater/surface platforms in Korea.
Moreover, in order to overcome the tough marine environment, technologies for combined motor control, multi-sensor data convergence/mapping, and auto-launch and recovery systems for underwater platforms (sea state: 3 or higher) were additionally secured to enable reconnaissance and surveillance in diverse environments.
The performance test recently carried out in the South Sea (Gyeongsangnam-do) showed that the vehicles achieved goals in terms of development and real sea operability.
Last April, they became the first unmanned surface vehicles in Korea to pass the sea-keeping performance test in sea state 4 (maximum wave height: 2.5 meters), so that their ship-hull stability was evaluated to be equal to Haegeom-3.
Conducting underwater/surface reconnaissance and surveillance activities in connection with the Navy’s harbor underwater surveillance system and carrying out mine countermeasure operations in cooperation with minesweepers, Haegeom-2 vehicles are projected to be used for various defense purposes.
At the same time, they are forecast to play a key role in private and public sectors including farm management, submarine topography research, offshore structure management, offshore construction support, and maritime rescue/salvage.
The Sea Sword USV (Unmanned Surface Vessel) was developed and designed for coastal defense. It can be remotely operated or perform an autonomous operation.
It is also equipped with state-of-the-art detection equipment and can perform coastal surveillance, marine disaster response, and surveillance missions in a dangerous coastal environment.
