Army Plans 'Dronebot' Combat Tests

The Army will try out a formation flight of drones to infiltrate enemy territory and drop small bombs. It hosted a conference about the plan in Sejong City on Tuesday.

The Army will develop both small cluster drones that will actually strike enemy facilities, and mother drones that will carry them to the areas of operation.

The little drones will swarm out of their mother ship to strike enemy command posts, logistics bases and air defense systems, and return to it before coming back to their home base. They could be used to destroy North Korea's mobile missile launchers.

Cluster drones have little destructive power but can cause fear among enemy lines with surprise attacks because they can silently avoid radar detection.

The Army also plans to develop a mini reconnaissance drone, a combat drone that can drop grenades and liquid bombs, a suicide drone, a surveillance drone, and a fire guidance drone.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Kim Yong-woo said, "Once the drone combat team is launched, we'll be able to boost our operational capability significantly by enhancing combat efficiency and minimizing casualties in an era of military downsizing."

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