Navy tests first take-off combat for large UAVs on Dokdo

The Navy said it conducted a combat experiment in which a fixed-wing drone took off from the flight deck in the presence of Navy Chief of Staff Yang Yong-mo and others on the large transport ship Dokdo.

The Navy has been operating small vertical take-off and landing drones in ships, but it said it was the first time it had grounded drones in a large ship with flight deck such as a runway.

The Navy explained that it conducted the experiment to find ways to secure and operate unmanned aerial forces early as part of the construction of a complex combat system with or without the ocean.

In addition, the drone used in this experiment was a so-called "Mohavi," which can take off from a flight deck within 100 meters, and was selected as a suitable drone for the test.

Kim Byung-jae, head of the Naval Power Analysis Test Evaluation Team, who organized the combat test, said the effectiveness of drones has been verified in recent war patterns and stressed that the Navy is also developing the concept of drone operation to establish a firm military readiness at sea.