[Edaily Reporter kim kwanyong ] The Ministry of National Defense is set to fully launch its “Defense AX (AI Transformation)” initiative by leveraging civilian artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The vision of a future battlefield—where service members use tactical smartphones to control various types of drones, AI provides real-time foreign language interpretation, and operational situations are shared in real time—has moved beyond conceptual research and entered the actual development phase.

According to military authorities and industry sources on the 4th, the Ministry of National Defense recently finalized the selection of implementing agencies for the “2026 AI Application Product Rapid Commercialization Support Project (Defense AX Sprint)” and has begun developing a total of 20 AI projects. This initiative applies AI across all military sectors, including combat support, force reduction, defense operational efficiency, and cybersecurity. A total of 40 billion won in government funding will be invested by 2027. The goal is to rapidly apply AI technologies validated in the private sector to the military, test them in actual units, and then roll them out across the entire armed forces.

The most notable project is the development of a “heterogeneous drone-compatible GCS (Ground Control System) based on an on-device AI tactical phone,” which will be led by the Samsung SDS consortium. Once this project is completed, soldiers will be able to operate multiple drones from different manufacturers using a single tactical phone. AI will support tactical situations and facilitate communication during ROK-U.S. joint operations by utilizing mobile interpretation and translation functions. The tactical phone itself is equipped with a military-specific security management system and operates as a dedicated military platform distinct from civilian smartphones.

This also serves as a core foundation for the Ministry of National Defense’s “500,000 Drone Warriors” policy. Until now, operational efficiency has been hampered by the fact that each drone required different control equipment; however, once the universal control system is established, an environment will be created where various drones can be integrated and operated using a single tactical phone.

Until now, the South Korean military has maintained a relatively conservative stance on adopting smartphone-based tactical systems due to security concerns. However, as the nature of combat rapidly evolves around drones and AI, a consensus on the need to adopt tactical phones is reportedly growing within the military.

Samsung SDS and Samsung Electronics already have experience in proving their technical capabilities overseas. Since 2018, the two companies have been supplying the U.S. Army with the Samsung Tactical Edition, and through Samsung SDS’s EMM (Enterprise Mobility Management) solution, they provide an integrated security system that includes remote control of tactical phones, application deployment, and operational policy management. This project is regarded as the first instance of adapting such civilian technology to the South Korean military’s operational environment.

The future battlefield envisioned by the Ministry of National Defense will undergo even more significant changes. Footage captured by reconnaissance drones will be analyzed in real time by AI and transmitted to commanders, while AI will analyze enemy attack patterns to propose optimal countermeasures. AI will also predict equipment malfunctions in advance and handle tasks such as creating military medical records and performing maintenance. In essence, service members are preparing for an era in which they will conduct operations alongside AI.

In fact, this AX Sprint project includes a total of 20 tasks, such as real-time conversion of drone footage into 3D maps, AI-based video surveillance operations, anti-drone defense simulations, automated analysis of open-source intelligence (OSINT), AI operational weather forecasting, equipment lifecycle prediction, military medical AI, and AI coding security.

This project is also significant in that it focuses not so much on technology development itself, but rather on “how quickly civilian AI can be applied to the military.” The Ministry of National Defense explained, “We plan to establish a virtuous cycle in which AI companies validate their technologies using the military’s demonstration environment, and the military rapidly adopts cutting-edge civilian AI.” The vision is to realize AI-based self-reliant national defense while simultaneously expanding the domestic AI industry’s access to the defense market.