Arion-SMET
Hanwha Aerospace's armed ground robot, ordered for South Korea's Army and marines from 2027.
Hanwha Aerospace signed a mass-production contract for the Arion-SMET with South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration on 4 September 2026, with deliveries to Army and Marine infantry from 2027.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Korea ordered it into mass production but never said how many.
Timeline for Arion-SMET
Mentioned in: Hanwha buys two Milrem THeMIS robots
Autonomous Systems: Land & SeaBackground
Hanwha Aerospace signed a mass-production contract for the Arion-SMET with South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration on 4 September 2026, with deliveries to Army and Marine infantry from 2027. The Korea Times, on 17 September, called it the country's first uncrewed military ground vehicle ready for battlefield use. Neither value nor quantity is public; July selection reports put the initial figure at 49.6bn won. Hanwha's purchase of two Milrem THeMIS robots on 7 October sits beside it, not in place of it.
The Korea Times gives the Arion-SMET a payload of about 450kg, a top speed of 60km/h and a 7.62mm remote weapon station with AI-assisted fire control. It can follow a soldier on its own. Hanwha says over 98 per cent of its content is Korean, from about 40 suppliers.
Hanwha aims for six common uncrewed ground platforms by 2030 and optionally crewed versions of the K9 howitzer, Chunmoo rocket launcher and infantry fighting vehicles by 2029, according to the same report.
