26OCT

DAPA approves VTOL drone for Korean army

2 min read

15:07UTC

South Korea approved a 2.16 trillion won, ten-year research programme for a vertical take-off drone to replace the army's RQ-102K.

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Key takeaway

South Korea will spend a decade developing its next Army reconnaissance drone rather than buying one off the shelf.

On 15 September the committee chaired by South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), the country's arms procurement agency, approved a 2.16 trillion won research programme for a vertical take-off reconnaissance drone⁠¹. The programme runs from 2027 to 2036, and the drone will replace the Army's fixed-wing RQ-102K. A vertical take-off drone needs no runway or launch rail, so a unit can fly it from a clearing or the back of a vehicle.

By Lowdown's calculation the budget averages about 216 billion won a year for a single reconnaissance type. A research programme running to 2036 makes the RQ-102K's successor a project for the next decade rather than an urgent purchase, and Asian Military Review's account gives no in-service date.

Five weeks earlier DAPA wrote drone jammers into its K2 tank upgrade. Both decisions put South Korea's drone money inside long programmes with fixed end dates, the reverse of the urgent direct awards made in Europe in September.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

South Korea's Army uses small drones to watch the battlefield. Its current model, the RQ-102K, works like a small plane and needs a runway or launcher to take off. The government has approved money to develop a new drone that rises vertically from the ground, so soldiers can launch it almost anywhere. Korean companies will design and build it over ten years, from 2027 to 2036. The defence buying agency says it will see much more of the battlefield than the old one.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

A fixed-wing tactical drone needs a runway, a launcher or a prepared strip, and those sites are easy to find and hit. Front-line experience has pushed armies towards aircraft that can launch from a clearing or a vehicle, which is the requirement DAPA has now written.

Korea's defence-industrial policy favours domestic development where time allows. A ten-year programme gives Korean firms steady work and keeps the design and its data under national control.

What could happen next?

Consequence
Korean aerospace firms gain a decade of funded drone development work.
Risk
The army keeps flying a runway-dependent drone until the new type arrives, with no in-service date published.

Source Landscape

This story draws on neutral-leaning sources

Primary parallel: The RQ-102K itself, a 125.6kg fixed-wing drone built by Korean Air, came from Korea's own aerospace base. The replacement keeps the work inside the same domestic industry rather than opening it to foreign makers.

Counter-parallel: Ukraine approved hundreds of new drone designs in nine months this year through a fast codification process. Seoul's ten-year research timetable sits at the opposite end, trading speed for a domestic product built to a single Army specification.

At about US$1.51bn, the programme spreads its money over a decade of research rather than a production run, so most of the spending goes to design, testing and engineering staff.

The MH-60R approval at the same meeting was larger, at 3.24 trillion won, and flows mainly to the United States. On 15 September DAPA's committee sent the helicopter money abroad and kept the drone money in Korea.

Consensus view: The committee chaired by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said the drone would 'overcome the limitations of the existing fixed-wing-type divisional reconnaissance drone', according to Asian Military Review. A vertical take-off design frees Army divisions from the prepared strips the RQ-102K needs.

Counter-view: The same meeting approved 3.24 trillion won for more MH-60R helicopters through US Foreign Military Sales, bought off the shelf. Seoul imports when it needs a capability soon and develops at home when it can wait, and the reconnaissance drone fell into the second group.

Key tension: Whether a design set around today's requirements will still match the drone threat when it reaches divisions in the 2030s.

Sources:Asian Military Review

Mentions:K2 →South Korea →Ukraine →Seoul →South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration →RQ-102K →Republic of Korea Army →Asian Military Review →Korean Air →US Foreign Military Sales →Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk →

First Reported In

Update #18 · Four EU states skip tenders on drone defence

Asian Military Review· 1 Oct 2026

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Causes and effects

Caused by

Seoul buys jammers with its new tanks

DAPA followed its K2 jammer approval with a VTOL reconnaissance drone programme.

Occurred 11 Aug 2026

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This Event

DAPA approves VTOL drone for Korean army

Seoul is developing its next army reconnaissance drone at home over a decade, while other buyers in this briefing order kit already flying.

Led to

Seoul bars LIG D&A from bids for 2 years

The LIG ban covers new bids under the reconnaissance-drone programme DAPA approved in September.

Occurred 20 Oct 2026

Read story →

Different Perspectives

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Civilians in Western Sahara

A UN report of October 2023 records allegations of Moroccan drone strikes east of the berm. An aerial strike there in November 2022 reportedly killed six civilians, the UN said, citing Polisario and local media.

Thunder Tiger

The Taichung company said on 16 October that all 1,520 of its Gauntlet I attack drones passed inspection. Its MoU with AeroVironment covers fitting Switchblade to its uncrewed boats and ground vehicles and exploring joint production in Taiwan.

EDGE Group

The Emirati group said on 9 October it will supply glide bombs and guidance kits for the Royal Moroccan Air Force's armed drones. A separate memorandum explores making small arms and aero engines in Morocco.

Rajnath Singh

India's Defence Acquisition Council, which he chairs, approved about Rs 2.12 lakh crore of proposals on 26 October, including kamikaze drones and tank-mounted counter-drone systems. About 82 per cent of the value is to go to Indian industry, by the ministry's account.

Kongsberg

The Norwegian group said on 13 October it will invest more than 200m zlotys in a Pomeranian plant to build and maintain SAN counter-drone systems. It expects series output to begin in the first half of 2028.

Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Editorial standards.