[양낙규의 Defence Club]AI Royal Wingman has appeared in the sky

[아시아경제 양낙규 군사전문기자]With the decision to mount an unmanned aerial vehicle on a domestic small armed helicopter (LAH), interest is gaining attention in the’Manned-Unmanned Teaming’ called’MUM-T’. MUM-T is a concept in which a manned manned with a pilot and an unmanned aerial vehicle without a pilot form a team to perform a mission.

It is also the reason that Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) recently signed a business agreement (M0U) with Israeli IAI for MUM-T cooperation.

KAI is known to have a plan to develop autonomous flight by mounting a canister (launcher)-launched drone in the interior space of a manned helicopter, and to collect information and strike with an optical tracker built into the drone. The manned and unmanned complex operation system can maximize the combat effect with a small number of personnel and costs, and is expected to increase future growth potential in connection with the 4th industrial revolution.

The concept of mumty, which appeared in the early 2000s, is a tactical weapon that has already been realized in developed countries. In the Afghanistan War, the US Air Force implemented a team concept operation by applying a data link that can share data in real time to the AC-130 Gunship, a ground attack aircraft, and the MQ-1C Predator, an armed reconnaissance and surveillance monitor. In this first Operation Mumty, Predator transmitted video data captured through a sensor to the AC-130 in real time, and based on this video data, the AC-130 was able to accurately attack critical targets.

The US Air Force is currently developing the’Royal Wingman’. This means that it is a loyal escort that will perform dangerous missions on behalf of pilots while performing missions with 6th generation fighters. The characteristics of the Royal Wingman are controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), and it can operate as a team with other aircraft.

The attack helicopter AH-64 Apache teamed up with the MQ-1C Gray Eagle, an armed reconnaissance and surveillance drone. Gray Eagle is first deployed in the operation area to collect various information and transmit it to Apache in real time.

The Russian Air Force’s S-70 Oakhotnik-B, already a royal wingman, is expected to be delivered to the Russians in 2024. The S-70, which is estimated to have a length of 14m, a wingspan of 20m, and a weight of about 20 tons, expands the detection range while performing missions with the fifth-generation fighter, the Su-57, and provides target information through covert penetration using stealth performance. It is expected to serve as a hunting dog for Su-57 fighters such as transmission.

The Australian Air Force has also recently completed its first flight of the Royal Wingman ATS (Airpower Teaming System), developed in partnership with Boeing. The Royal Wingman of the Australian Air Force will autonomously perform the mission based on artificial intelligence when a manned aircraft gives a mission order.

The Royal Wingman Drone is 11.7m long and is smaller than a typical fighter, but it is larger than the 8.5m MQ-1C Gray Eagle. The range also reaches 3700 km, which is sufficient to carry out joint operations with most fighters. The top speed has not been disclosed, but it is expected to be similar to or a little slower than the latest fighters.

Reporter Yang Nak-gyu [email protected]