South Korea will rapidly expand its drone and counter-drone capabilities to counter North Korea, including by ‌training 500,000 “drone warriors” and distributing tens of thousands of unmanned systems across frontline units, the Defence Ministry said on Friday. The military also plans to produce 110,000 drones by 2029 for ‌deployment across the army, navy, air force and marines, aiming ⁠to make drones a standard item for individual soldiers. “Drones should ⁠no longer be ⁠equipment used by a limited number of units, but a universal combat ‌tool,” Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said in a briefing, adding they should be used ⁠by troops like a “second personal ⁠weapon.” Ahn said Seoul would rely on 100% domestically produced components rather than Chinese parts in building the systems, in response to security concerns.

Full report : South Korea to train 500,000 ‘drone warriors’ to counter North Korea.