Kakao Mobility is partnering with Korea University to apply its artificial intelligence-based mobility technologies to the defense sector.
Kakao Mobility said on the 6th that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea University's C5ISRT Convergence Research Institute on mutual development in defense AI.
The institute researches C5ISRT, an advanced command-and-control and battlefield awareness framework that integrates command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting. It is led by Kang Suk-joong, an expert in defense technology management and defense acquisition programs, and conducts research and advisory work on defense AI and advanced command-and-control systems.
The institute was recently selected to operate a military-industry-academia cooperation center in Seoul's Yongsan district alongside the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as part of a Ministry of National Defense program to establish defense AI transformation hubs in five regions nationwide to expand civil-military AI cooperation.
The agreement aims to bring Kakao Mobility's technologies into defense as manned-unmanned teaming becomes more widely used in future military operations. The two sides will pursue joint research and business cooperation in AI-based command-and-control and surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as in developing a manned-unmanned control platform for shared and standardized defense platforms. They also plan to cooperate on training defense AI specialists. Both are already participating in the Yongsan cooperation center project.
Manned-unmanned teaming, or MUM-T, refers to systems in which a manned platform operated by a crew works with one or more unmanned systems on a shared mission. It is considered a core technology for future warfare as troop numbers decline and the use of unmanned platforms such as drones, robots and unmanned ground vehicles grows.
As a wider range of unmanned systems is deployed to the battlefield, the ability to operate different types of equipment within a single framework and to analyze field data to position and deploy resources efficiently is becoming more important.
Kakao Mobility has advanced AI-based demand forecasting, dispatch optimization, routing and control technologies by connecting large volumes of travel demand and supply across taxis, navigation, parking and logistics. It has recently expanded into physical AI areas such as autonomous driving and robotics on the back of those technologies.
Through the partnership, the two sides plan to extend Kakao Mobility's orchestration technology, which operates multiple types of manned and unmanned systems on a single platform, into defense.
"Through this partnership with Korea University, we want to apply the core future mobility technologies and platform operating capabilities that Kakao Mobility has built up to the defense sector as well," Kakao Mobility CEO Ryu Gung-sun said. "We will actively support defense AI transformation and help strengthen the competitiveness of the domestic defense industry and build capabilities for future warfare."
"As the use of various manned and unmanned systems expands, C5ISRT capabilities that integrate and analyze the vast amount of information collected on the battlefield and quickly translate it into command decisions are emerging as a core element of future defense," Kang said. "Through this partnership with Kakao Mobility, we will produce meaningful results for the advancement of future defense technology."
