South Korea's Agency for Defense Development (ADD) announced on August 28, 2026, that two South Korean loitering munitions crashed into the sea seconds after launch during their first naval test on August 25. The test took place aboard ROKS Marado, a 14,000-ton Dokdo-class amphibious assault ship operating off Busan, South Korea. The mission was designed to demonstrate shipboard launch capabilities and target an unmanned vessel approximately two kilometers away. However, the first drone plunged into the sea roughly two seconds after departure, and a second drone crashed about four seconds after launch.
Preliminary investigation by the Agency for Defense Development revealed that the failures were caused by a defect in the shipboard launcher's lower tube door. The launch system utilizes a two-level tube design. According to investigators, a door on the left side of a lower launch tube was slightly out of alignment. When a drone launched from an upper tube, operational forces temporarily pushed the misaligned door inward, generating uneven aerodynamic forces on the exiting aircraft. This imbalance forced the drone sharply to the right and caused an immediate loss of flight control.
Investigators emphasized that the drones and their core operational systems functioned normally throughout the test procedure. The Agency for Defense Development stated that the identical launch tube configuration had been successfully operated during approximately 30 prior land-based trials without encountering similar structural issues. Current investigative efforts are focused on determining whether the door misalignment originated during factory assembly, transport logistics, or ammunition loading operations.
The aircraft tested belong to South Korea's K-LUCAS project, an effort to develop a domestically manufactured long-range loitering munition. Featuring a wingspan of approximately three meters, the K-LUCAS system is designed to sustain flight for more than 10 hours while executing reconnaissance, surveillance, and precision strike operations. South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back announced in June 2026 that the military plans to accelerate the operational deployment of K-LUCAS as part of a strategic initiative to acquire over 20,000 low-cost drones by 2030.
