South Korean K-LUCAS drone sea trial failures

South Korea’s development of the Korea Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (K-LUCAS) encountered difficulties during maritime sea trials near Busan. On August 25, 2026, two kamikaze drone prototypes launched from the ROKS Marado, a Dokdo-class amphibious assault ship, crashed into the sea shortly after liftoff.

Initial reports suggested the failures might be due to the complex maritime environment or alignment issues caused by the movement of the ship. While the drones had successfully completed approximately 30 land-based test flights without incident, both maritime attempts failed within seconds of launch. Initial telemetry indicated that rocket boosters separated normally and engines reached expected RPMs, leaving the exact cause of the crashes initially unclear.

Subsequent investigations by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) identified a specific mechanical defect in the shipboard launcher. Investigators found that a door on the lower-left section of a launch tube was misaligned. When a drone was launched from an upper tube, the resulting forces pushed this misaligned door inward, causing the aircraft to veer sharply to the right and lose control. While the drones and their propulsion systems appeared to operate normally, the ADD is still determining if the launcher misalignment occurred during assembly, transport, or loading.