LIG D&A begins development of unmanned surface vessel for water rescue units

LIG Defense & Aerospace (LIG D&A) announced Monday it has been selected as the lead research and development institution for an unmanned surface vessel project for the National Fire Agency's water rescue units, under a civil-military technology cooperation program administered by the Civil-Military Technology Cooperation Promotion Institute.

The project is part of a civil-military technology cooperation expansion policy jointly pursued by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and the National Fire Agency. Through the project, LIG D&A plans to apply military unmanned technology to disaster response, contributing to the safety of rescue personnel.

LIG D&A intends to draw on technologies already validated through its military unmanned surface vessel development programs — including ▷autonomous navigation, ▷obstacle avoidance, ▷remote command and control ▷and sensor integration — to develop an unmanned surface vessel optimized for water rescue missions.

In particular, the company will adopt a field-centered development process, visiting water rescue units under the National Fire Agency from the pre-design stage to gather firsthand accounts of actual rescue environments and operational challenges, and incorporate that feedback into development.

LIG D&A said it plans to use this water rescue unmanned surface vessel contract as a springboard to expand its marine unmanned systems business. The company has been building relevant experience and technology since 2015, developing the Haegum series of unmanned surface vessels as a civil-military project. By next year, it expects to deliver to the Navy an unmanned surface vessel that has received the country's first combat-suitability certification, developed through a reconnaissance unmanned surface vessel system development program, for deployment and operation.

LIG D&A also plans to actively pursue exports to Southeast Asia and other markets, leveraging its domestic operational track record. Shin Yong-hwa, head of the Future Battlefield Business Division, said the project is "a critical starting point for LIG D&A's unmanned surface vessels to expand into the civilian sector, while at the same time securing safety at life-threatening rescue scenes." He added that the company "will continue to broaden its business reach beyond the domestic market and into the global market, backed by its accumulated advanced technological capabilities."

Meanwhile, LIG D&A conducted its first field demonstration of an unmanned surface vessel off the coast of Yeongdo, Busan, in May.