South Korea plans to train entire military as "drone warriors"

Jung also highlighted the South Korean military’s personnel shortage, especially among noncommissioned officers and officers expected to help train new conscripts to use drones. Lessons from Ukraine It’s worth noting that Ukraine, the model for so many countries’ military reform efforts, does not field a military where everyone is trained to be a drone pilot —although Ukraine has scaled up training to produce tens of thousands of drone operators . Instead, Ukraine’s effective use of military drones comes from having widely deployed specialized drone operator teams to back up front-line infantry units, standing up the Unmanned Systems Forces branch of the military to develop drone doctrine and coordinate deep strike campaigns, creating a digital battle management system that provides updated battlefield information for rapid decision-making, and developing a homegrown drone industry that can mass produce millions of drones each year while nimbly innovating in response to changing battlefield conditions. Meanwhile, North Korean soldiers who survived their encounters with Ukrainian drone warfare while fighting on Russia’s side have already been rotating back home to instruct the North Korean military. Though it’s less clear what kind of training lessons they may be imparting to their comrades. At the same time, South Korean troops are not alone in facing off against the North Korean military. …