South Korea’s first defense drone technology exhibition ended with a string of crashes and technical failures at a military training ground in Pocheon. The event was intended to demonstrate the country’s «drone revolution» under conditions designed to resemble a real combat environment, but several systems failed to complete their assigned tasks.

Around 1,500 people attended the demonstration, including civilian and military specialists, representatives of South Korea’s defense industry, and delegations from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Among the equipment on display was the Mojave STOL produced by Hanwha Aerospace and GA-ASI.

Several of the 12 drones involved in the demonstration crashed shortly after takeoff and failed to carry out their missions. One of the aircraft lost was a jet-powered drone developed by KAI. A swarm of multirotor UAVs also encountered problems during the event.

The weapons demonstration produced another setback. According to Maeil Kyongje, an air-to-surface guided missile launched from a drone missed its target. The exhibition also featured UAM Tech’s Cobra and two jet-powered drones from KAI.

The failures were particularly notable because rehearsals held at the same training ground had reportedly gone without similar incidents. A military official acknowledged that products from some manufacturers had failed the test but described the problems as part of the process of developing more advanced technologies, Voennoye Obozreniye reports.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry launched an investigation after the incidents. One of the main explanations being examined is radio-frequency interference. Mobile phones carried by the large audience are suspected of having disrupted the communication channels used to control the drones.

That explanation raised further questions among local observers. They noted that if ordinary smartphones were capable of interfering with the unmanned systems, it remained unclear how reliably the same equipment could operate on a battlefield where an enemy uses far more powerful electronic warfare systems.