Development and Technological Strategy of Intelligent Ground Manned-Unmanned Composite Combat Systems : Focused on Future Ground Combat Systems

Abstract

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has brought revolutionary changes to society and industry, and in the defense sector, it is redefining weapon systems and future warfare. Recently, the Korean military has established the Defense Innovation 4.0 Basic Plan to quickly respond to these changes and is promoting AI-based defense innovation. The purpose of this study is to propose the development direction and technology development strategy of ground force MUM-T through the analysis of recent war cases and related technology status of ground force weapon systems. The analysis is based on two wars (Armenia-Azerbaijan War and Russia-Ukraine War) that broke out in 2020. In particular, the integrated combat approach of unmanned and manned weapon systems observed in the Russian-Ukrainian war provides a direction for future warfare. This suggests that weapon systems of ground forces will also need to be effectively integrated with unmanned aircraft. Countries around the world are already engaged in research and development of military AI and Manned-Unmanned Combined Systems (MUM-T). In the future, the development of AI-based manned and unmanned operational systems will become a key element of national defense strategy. The military significance of this research is that it will contribute to the conceptualization of the execution of joint operations, but these future technologies also provide good insights for change and industrial competitiveness in the civilian sector.