South Korea Mulls Replacing Delayed Aircraft Carrier Program with Drone Carrier

South Korea’s aircraft carrier program may have gotten a new lease on life. The project, launched during the latter part of the Moon Administration, had effectively been scrapped under the Yoon Presidency, with virtually no progress being made on the program over the last three years. However, SBS, a major Korean news outlet, recently reported that the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) is reviewing plans to refloat the program by turning the vessel into a drone carrier.

According to SBS, the ROKN briefed the Ministry of National Defense (MND) on the new proposal in mid-April. 

“The navy presented to the MND two new proposals concerning the acquisition of ‘drone carriers’ in order to salvage the aircraft carrier program which is in limbo.” – MND source

One proposal envisioned a drone carrier based on the preliminary design for South Korea’s aircraft carrier program. The other suggested that the Navy should develop a drone carrier by altering the design of the Dokdo-class. HD Hyundai and Hanwha Ocean have reportedly been assigned the former and latter proposals respectively and are expected to conduct preliminary research.  

South Korean newspaper No Cut News confirmed that both proposals were under review by the Navy, but that the MND was only briefed on the first proposal to convert the aircraft carrier into a drone carrier. ROKN officials also emphasized that the Navy plans on pursuing both projects as opposed to only choosing one of the programs following review according to No Cut News. The Navy emphasized that each proposal stemmed from separate origins. 

“The third amphibious assault ship program is part of our original plan to acquire amphibious vessels. The aircraft carrier program is a separate program.” – ROKN source

This new development comes amid growing worldwide interest in the drone carrier concept. The Iranian Navy drew global interest earlier this year when it revealed the IRIS Shahid Bagheri. Moreover, several other nations, including China, Portugal, and the United Kingdom, either operate or have reviewed plans to acquire drone carriers. 

The ROKN had also shown interest in operating drones from naval ships, successfully launching the Mojave, a US-made drone, from the ROKS Dokdo in November last year. Even though the ship’s relatively narrow beam prevented the Mojave from landing on the deck, with the drone finishing its flight on a land-based airstrip instead, the test demonstrated the potential operational effectiveness of drone equipped carriers.

“The operational effectiveness of using drones has been proven by this test. We now need to review how the drones will  operate from carriers.” –  Admiral Yang Yong-mo, ROKN Chief of Naval Operations last November

However, critics have pointed out that a drone carrier may not be viable. According to them, greater research is needed on what role a drone carrier would be able to perform in a potential conflict on the Korean peninsula. 

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