GEOJE, South Korea – Under a slate-grey sky at the quiet port of Jangmok on South Korea’s southern coast, a sleek, 12-meter vessel slipped into the waters.
To the untrained eye, it could have been mistaken for an ordinary fishing boat. But as it powered through the waves, the Hae-ryeong – or Sea Ghost – revealed its true nature.
Equipped with a suite of artificial intelligence, sonar and optical sensors, the unmanned surface vessel (USV) from Hanwha Systems Co., a leading Korean defense company, executed a flawless two-hour demonstration on May 13.
Its mission: to detect and avoid mines, autonomously navigate congested waters and conduct high-resolution seabed scanning.
Observing closely from the dockside was a high-level Greek delegation from the Hellenic National Defense General Staff – potentially Hanwha's first international customer for the USV technology.
Hanwha Systems is a defense affiliate of South Korea's Hanwha Group "What's the price? What are the delivery schedules?" asked a military official from the Greek delegation, pressing Hanwha officials for more information after the demonstration, according to people present at the event.
The Greek military’s interest underscores both the growing demand for unmanned maritime systems and Hanwha’s ambitions to become a global player in a field long dominated by US, European and Israeli defense contractors.
For Greece, whose strategic waters are increasingly under pressure due to migration issues from North Africa and disputes with Turkey, the promise of autonomous patrol and surveillance capabilities is more than timely.
Greek officials said the country’s seas are complex and its resources are limited. “We need systems that can multiply our reach and reaction speed,” said one of them.
ARMED WITH STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY
The Sea Ghost, named for its stealthy, ghost-like abilities, is Hanwha’s flagship USV.
At 14 tons, it is capable of operating up to 12 hours at a cruising speed of 20 knots, covering distances up to 440 km without human intervention. Its maximum speed is 40 knots, or 74 km an hour.
Hanwha Systems' first unmanned surface vessel (USV) Hae-ryeong, or Sea Ghost, at a seaport in South Korea Using AI-assisted target recognition, autonomous obstacle avoidance and unmanned docking systems, the vessel is designed for mine detection, surveillance, reconnaissance and even combat support, according to Hanwha.
The Korean Navy has already identified such platforms as critical to its Defense Innovation 4.0 roadmap, which aims to blend manned and unmanned systems into a seamless maritime force.
Plans are in place to deploy autonomous mine-hunting and clearing systems by 2027, while the Korean Coast Guard is also expected to introduce USVs to its regional operations.
USV MARKET SIZE TO MORE THAN DOUBLE BY 2034
Hanwha, which has been at the forefront of Korea’s naval combat system development for over four decades, sees its USV as a springboard into a market forecast to grow to $6.2 billion by 2034 from $2.6 billion in 2024, according to Market Research Future.
Hanwha Systems' first unmanned surface vessel (USV) Hae-ryeong, or Sea Ghost, at a seaport in South Korea "This is not a one-off experiment," said a Hanwha executive. "We intend to lead the maritime defense market by leveraging our experience in naval combat systems and applying it to unmanned technologies."
NEW FRONT IN NAVAL WARFARE
The war in Ukraine has accelerated the appetite for unmanned naval assets.
Ukraine’s Black Sea confrontations with Russia have featured USVs armed with missiles and explosives, while Taiwan has tested small-scale USVs to bolster its anti-landing defense capabilities against China.
The US Navy, meanwhile, is developing swarm-capable, kamikaze-style USVs for special operations forces.
Hanwha Systems is a defense affiliate of South Korea's Hanwha Group Amid this global arms race, Hanwha's pitch is both strategic and economic.
By offering a balance of performance and affordability, the Korean defense giant hopes to appeal to middle-power navies looking to bolster their maritime capabilities without breaking defense budgets, industry experts said.
Back in Jangmok, as the Sea Ghost returned to port, autonomously avoiding a small fishing boat by executing a starboard turn guided by AI analysis of visual data, the message to the visiting Greeks was clear: The future of naval operations may no longer require a human crew at sea.
For Hanwha Systems, securing a deal with Greece would be more than a commercial win. It would mark Korea’s arrival on the global unmanned naval systems stage, analysts said.
Write to Jin-Won Kim at jin1@hankyung.com In-Soo Nam edited this article.
