Hanwha Aerospace · military or security robot
Arion-SMET
A 6x6 electric robot for carrying equipment and following soldiers. It was the first South Korean ground robot in the US Foreign Comparative Testing programme and won the Korean Army's multipurpose UGV selection in 2026.
- Price
- —Korean Army initial phase about 49.6 billion won (about US$34-37M); could grow to 500 billion won. No unit price.
- Height
- —Not published
- Weight
- —Not published
- Payload
- —Not published
- Speed
- —Not published
- Battery
- —Not published
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Why it matters
Arion-SMET is on the market today.
Real-world use
US FCT field test in Hawaii, 14-22 December 2023.
Timeline
- Released
- 2026-07-16
Maker
Hanwha AerospaceCompany · founded 1977-08-01 · South KoreaPublic attention
#13 of 396 current machines in public attention.
- No Wikipedia article of its own yet
- 3 news stories from reputable press listed on this page
- 1 reported deployment
Measures how much people read and write about a robot, not how good it is. Measured 2026-10-13; same method for every robot. How it is measured
What’s inside
The parts the company has talked about publicly.
- Movement
- Wheeled base
- How it runs
- Supervised. It follows soldiers or drives set waypoints by itself under their watch, and can also be remote controlled.
- Actuators & motors
- 6x6 fully electric drive
- Sensors & vision
- Day and night electro-optical sensors; acoustic gunshot localisation
- Battery & power
- Battery-electric; up to 100 km per charge
- AI & software
- HAEMOS autonomy: remote driving, autonomous off-road driving, tether following and soldier or vehicle following
- Other details
- About 2 t; payload 450-550 kg (sources differ); up to 43 km/h on roads; optional remote weapon station; built with over 98% Korean components
Lineage
Every Hanwha Aerospace machine in order.
Made, sold and where
Unit counts are usually company figures; analysts often disagree.
- Price
- Not publishedKorean Army initial phase about 49.6 billion won (about US$34-37M); could grow to 500 billion won. No unit price.
- How to get one
- No official buying page found
- Built
- Several dozen ordered in the first Korean phase, fielding 2027-2028
- Sold or delivered
- Selected July 2026 for the Republic of Korea Army's first multipurpose UGV programme, initial phase about 49.6 billion won (about US$33.5 million); total could reach 500 billion won
- Where it is sold or used
- South Korea
- Customers and pilots
- Republic of Korea Army; tested by US forces (Foreign Comparative Test, Hawaii, December 2023)
Where it works
1 reported deployment.
- Ordered
Republic of Korea Army · Army TIGER programme · since 2026-07
South Korea's arms agency chose Hanwha's Arion-SMET as an infantry support robot, with service entry expected in 2027-28. Initial phase about 49.6 billion won The Korea Times
News
The latest 3, newest first. Summaries are ours; tap through for the original.
- Korea's UGV buy driven by manpower
GlobalData says the Arion-SMET buy offsets a shrinking conscript pool; fielding due 2027-2028.
Defence Blog - Hanwha wins Army UGV deal
DAPA selected Arion-SMET; the first phase is worth about 49.6 billion won.
The Korea Times - Arion-SMET completes US comparative test
The 2-ton electric UGV finished a US DoD Foreign Comparative Test with Marines in Hawaii.
EDR Magazine
Side by side with its peers
Picked by the same rules for every robot: another maker’s robot that moves the same way, is at the same stage and does at least one of the same main jobs, first shown within two years. Closer size and price rank higher. Few robots match closely, so these are the nearest matches. How we choose
| Measure |  Arion-SMETHanwha Aerospace |  MUTT (S-MET Increment I)General Dynamics Land SystemsSame job: carrying loads · Both on wheels · Both on sale or in pilots |
|---|---|---|
| First shown | 2023-10 | 2019-10 |
| Status | Commercial | Commercial |
| Height | — | — |
| Weight | — | — |
| Joints | — | — |
| Speed | — | — |
| Payload | — | 454 kg |
| Battery | — | — |
| Price | — | — |
Sources
Figures come from press coverage. Every link below backs something on this page.
Photos and logos only identify each robot and its maker. Simbeing is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsing any company, and nothing here is advertising. Figures are for statistics only and are not advice of any kind. Terms of use