South Korea's Sea Sword 3 USV Completes Tests

South Korean firm LIG Nex1 announced in late July the completion of sea trials of its Haegum-3 (Sea Sword 3) unmanned surface vehicle (USV).

The development work was carried out under the umbrella of a two-year public-private joint venture, called ‘The Coastal Security and the Rapid Response Unmanned Surface Vehicle Civil-Military Technology Commercialization Support Program', between 2019 and 2021.

The Sea Sword 3 has been optimized for operations by being equipped with appropriate mission equipment including surveillance and reconnaissance suite and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven autonomous navigation/obstacle avoidance technology.

In May the USV completed its seaworthiness trial without supervisory personnel aboard in conditions of up to Sea State 4. The Sea Sword 3 can optionally carry up to eight personnel, while Sea Sword 2 could only accommodate up to two personnel.

Sea Sword 3 can be equipped with a remote-controlled weapon station (RCWS) armed with a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun and a 2.75-inch caliber-guided rocket launcher towards the stern.