Korean defense firm to test unmanned vehicle for U.S. Marines

SEOUL, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- South Korean defense company Hanwha Aerospace said Thursday the U.S. Department of Defense has agreed to a test of the company's unmanned vehicle on U.S. soil in preparation for use by U.S. Marines.

Hanwha's ground vehicle, codenamed Arion-SMET, will be tested at Marine training grounds in Hawaii for three weeks in December, Hanwha said.

Weighing 2 tons, the Arion-SMET was built to support infantry operations, including transporting weapons, evacuating the wounded and close combat support.

The vehicle, which includes autonomous off-road navigation and a homing device in case of communication failure, can be remotely controlled or operated autonomously for reconnaissance or surveillance operations.

The agreement is part of the Foreign Comparative Testing program by the U.S. military, whose purpose is to locate world-class products and technologies built by allies that are satisfactory to the United States' defense requirements.

Since 1980, Washington has spent more than $5 billion to procure foreign-sourced products through the testing program.

This marks the first time that an unmanned weapons system made by a Korean firm will be tested in the United States with the potential for procurement contracts.

"The test on American soil is proof of the U.S.'s faith in our Arion-SMET and technological know-how," Hanwha Executive Vice President Seo Young-woo said in a statement.

Hanwha Aerospace has been concentrating on developing unmanned military vehicles, especially with South Korea continuing to experience population drop due to an ultra-low fertility rate.

According to Statistics Korea, the country's fertility rate stood at 0.7 during the second quarter of this year, by far the lowest in the world.

This means that for every 100 women, only 70 babies are born during, far lower than 210 that are necessary to maintain Korea's 51 million population.

In a related note, Hanwha said Wednesday that the Seoul administration has chosen the company to be the preferred negotiating party for developing technologies associated with unmanned aerial vehicle engines.

Hanwha said it would be teaming up with different partners to take advantage of leading-edge technologies such as 3D printing and heat-resistant coating.