en.Wedoany.com Reported - South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) will launch the final comprehensive evaluation of the multi-purpose unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) project in late June, with Hanwha Aerospace and Hyundai Rotem competing for the contract. This project is one of the core initiatives under the South Korean Army's TIGER 4.0 program, aimed at reducing reliance on personnel by deploying artificial intelligence-driven unmanned platforms. The multi-purpose UGV will be used for surveillance, reconnaissance, combat support, and logistics transport. The initial project value is approximately 50 billion won, marking a significant milestone as the military's first operational deployment of unmanned ground vehicles.

Hanwha Aerospace has introduced the Arion-SMET platform, while Hyundai Rotem has offered the HR-Sherpa. Both companies previously bid with zero won in a rapid demonstration acquisition project, with the contract ultimately awarded to Hyundai Rotem. The main acquisition process has been delayed by over a year due to disagreements over performance evaluation criteria. Hyundai Rotem once refused to participate in performance verification tests, citing fairness concerns regarding the evaluation method, while Hanwha Aerospace completed the evaluation independently. After mediation by DAPA, Hyundai Rotem returned to the process. DAPA is using a maximum performance verification method for evaluation, comparing submitted performance specifications against each other, with exceeding the military's minimum operational requirements providing a competitive advantage. Both vehicle models are battery-powered, with a range of over 100 kilometers on a full charge, but disputes over the evaluation criteria have not yet been fully resolved.

DAPA is also accelerating several long-stalled defense projects, including South Korea's next-generation destroyer (KDDX) project. KDDX is a 6,000-ton Aegis destroyer project based on domestic technology, which has been delayed for over three years. Since DAPA Director Lee Yong-cheol took office in November last year, restoring delayed projects has become a priority. After DAPA completed its bid evaluation, Hanwha Ocean scored 0.5867 points higher than HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in the comprehensive assessment, giving it an advantage. DAPA stated that it will proceed with the project fairly and transparently to ensure that troop deployment schedules are not affected. DAPA has held a briefing with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and is expected to complete the remaining procedures and designate a preferred bidder as early as next month.

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