S.Korea Deploys Underwater Mine Disposal Robots

The South Korean military have deployed ten locally-built unmanned underwater mine disposal vehicles.

Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Tuesday that the marine robots developed by Daeyang Electric Co. were first delivered to the armed forces two years ago. They can perform tasks such as searching and identifying mines underwater and neutralizing them by placing explosives.

It can be controlled with a remote to ensure that operators remain out of harm's way when buried mines are detonated. DAPA claims that the robot can withstand strong currents and remain underwater for long periods.

For look for land mines including non-metal ones, South Korea’s Hanwha Systems Co. completed development of a mine detector recently. Earlier this month, the arms procurement agency contracted LIG Next1 Co. to build an underwater robotic mine detector that can remain hundreds of meters below the sea for over 20 hours.