ED Iran's drone warfare

This handout satellite image courtesy of Vantor shows an overview of the Ahvaz drone base in southwestern Iran on Sunday, following an airstrike. AFP-Yonhap

Freedom Shield, the annual 10-day joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States, kicked off on Monday amid intensifying conflicts in the Middle East in the wake of the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran that began on Feb. 28.

According to U.S. Forces Korea, the drill is designed to ensure the allies’ ability to fortify their combined defense posture and enhance the alliance's response capabilities against various security threats. “It will feature live, virtual and field-based training,” it said in a press release.

The significance of South Korea’s war readiness cannot be overstated, in light of two major ongoing conflicts — one in Ukraine and the other in the Middle East.

Participating in such exercises is essential to improving the nation’s preparedness. But there is another task Seoul should take seriously: studying the lessons of the war in Iran and incorporating relevant lessons into its military strategy. Drones are a key capability South Korea should upgrade to better prepare for modern warfare.

The joint U.S.-Israeli campaign has targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, as well as facilities belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), ballistic missile launch sites and drone production factories. In addition to these physical strikes, cyber and kinetic operations have also been launched to disrupt Iran’s infrastructure, leading to communication blackouts.

This conflict is already affecting Koreans’ livelihoods. Citizens, the government and businesses are bracing for the fallout from soaring energy prices. The IRGC's de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz using drones and missiles has disrupted global supply chains.

Eight commercial vessels have been damaged or sunk. Oil prices have surged. Brent crude, for example, is currently trading at $101.19 per barrel, a 38 percent increase since the outbreak of the war. Heavily dependent on imported oil, the Korean economy is especially vulnerable to this volatility.

The war in Iran demonstrates how asymmetric capabilities can undermine even the most advanced militaries. The U.S. military is vastly superior to Iran’s, but it has struggled to counter Iranian drone attacks. Iran’s low-cost Shahed drone series have damaged several high-value U.S. military assets and emerged as a serious challenge for Washington.

Shahed drones have targeted at least 11 U.S. military installations in the Middle East. The massive AN/FPS-132 early warning radar at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar was reportedly damaged following Iranian drone attacks on March 1. The U.S. has also sought Ukraine’s assistance in countering Iranian drones, as Kyiv developed its own anti-drone systems after facing the same Shahed drones used by Russia.

Compared with North Korea, its adversary across the border, South Korea’s military possesses far more advanced and valuable assets and is widely considered superior. However, as demonstrated by the U.S.' struggle to counter Iran’s relatively inexpensive drones, such superiority can be undermined if an adversary exploits asymmetric capabilities effectively.

In January, the Lee Jae Myung administration moved to scrap the Drone Operation Command established in September 2023 under then-President Yoon Suk Yeol. On Jan. 20, a civilian-military joint advisory committee recommended abolishing the command, citing overlapping functions and inefficiency.

Despite this explanation, the decision has widely been speculated to be related to the Lee administration’s purge of military officials and organizations linked to Yoon’s declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. Some members of the Drone Operation Command were accused of being involved in flying drones into Pyongyang's airspace to drop anti-regime leaflets.

The Ministry of National Defense has yet to confirm whether the Drone Operation Command will be abolished. National security is an area where partisan politics should be minimized, if not eliminated altogether. Scrapping the Drone Operation Command simply because some of its members were allegedly involved in the martial law crisis could prove to be a serious mistake.

At a time when drones are reshaping modern warfare, such a decision would be akin to burning down a house to catch bedbugs. The critical role drones play has already been demonstrated in the two ongoing wars. It is time for South Korea to upgrade its drone capabilities and strengthen its military readiness.