Two South Korean attack drones crash seconds after launch in first naval test

Two South Korean loitering munitions crashed into the sea seconds after being launched from a Navy amphibious assault ship during a maritime test, with investigators tracing the failures to a defect in the shipboard launcher.

The two aircraft were launched on August 25, 2026, from ROKS Marado, a 14,000-ton Dokdo-class amphibious assault ship operating off Busan, South Korea. The test was intended to demonstrate the drones’ ability to launch from a ship and strike an unmanned target vessel about two kilometers away.

Neither aircraft got close. The first drone plunged into the sea about two seconds after leaving its launcher. A second attempt later that day ended similarly, with the aircraft crashing after about four seconds.

South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development (ADD) said on August 28 that its initial investigation found a misaligned door on the lower section of the launcher was responsible for the failures.

The launcher contains two levels of launch tubes. According to ADD, a door on the left side of a lower tube was slightly out of alignment. When a drone was launched from an upper tube, forces generated during launch briefly pushed the misaligned door inward.

That created an imbalance in the forces acting on the departing drone, pushing it sharply to the right and causing it to lose control almost immediately after launch.

The deformation lasted only briefly before the door returned to its original position, making the problem difficult to identify during an inspection following the crashes.

ADD said the drones themselves and the overall system were operating normally.

Investigators are examining whether the launcher became misaligned during assembly, while it was being moved or during loading operations.

The agency said the same launch tube had previously been used successfully and that the problem had not occurred during earlier testing. About 30 previous land-based tests reportedly had been conducted without similar problems.

The aircraft involved are part of South Korea’s effort to develop a domestically produced long-range loitering munition known as K-LUCAS.

The weapon has a wingspan of about three meters and is designed to remain airborne for more than 10 hours while performing reconnaissance, surveillance and strike missions.

South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back announced in June 2026 that the military intends to accelerate deployment of K-LUCAS as part of a broader expansion of the country’s unmanned weapons capabilities.

South Korea plans to acquire more than 20,000 low-cost drones by 2030, ranging from short-range reconnaissance aircraft to loitering munitions, while also developing more advanced capabilities including artificial intelligence-enabled drone swarms.

The push comes as North Korea continues to expand its own unmanned aircraft capabilities and as relatively inexpensive one-way attack drones play an increasingly prominent role in conflicts around the world.The post Two South Korean attack drones crash seconds after launch in first naval test appeared first on AeroTime.

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