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LIG Nex1 Reveals Sea Sword-X Unmanned Surface Vessel With Modular Networked Firepower at UMEX 2026.
South Korean defense firm LIG Nex1 is presenting its Sea Sword-X modular combat unmanned surface vessel at UMEX 2026 in Abu Dhabi. The appearance signals growing Gulf interest in armed, networked naval drones as regional navies adapt to crowded littoral waters and evolving maritime threats.
At UMEX 2026, held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre since 20 January 2026, South Korean defense company LIG Nex1 is showcasing its Sea Sword-X combat unmanned surface vessel (USV). First unveiled at MADEX 2025 in Busan as a central concept for the Republic of Korea Navy’s future unmanned fleet, Sea Sword-X is now making its regional debut in the Gulf. Its presence in Abu Dhabi underlines the rapid shift of maritime forces toward armed, networked unmanned platforms at a time when naval drones are reshaping conflict in the Red Sea, Black Sea and beyond. For Gulf navies facing constrained littoral waters, strategic chokepoints and rising drone-boat threats, this class of system is emerging as a key component of future force structure rather than a marginal experiment.
LIG Nex1’s Sea Sword-X combat unmanned surface vessel is making its Gulf debut at UMEX 2026 in Abu Dhabi, highlighting how regional navies are accelerating interest in armed, networked naval drones for littoral operations (Picture Source: Army Recognition Group)
Sea Sword-X is presented at UMEX 2026 as a flagship modular combat USV that concentrates more than a decade of LIG Nex1’s work on unmanned surface platforms and guided munitions. The craft adopts a faceted, low-observable hull designed to shrink its radar cross-section, paired with a multi-function active electronically scanned array radar providing three-dimensional surveillance and fire-control quality tracking over the surrounding air and surface picture. A standardized mission bay and modular topside architecture allow the payload fit to be tailored to the mission: a domestically developed 20 mm remote-controlled weapon station for close-in engagements; 2.75-inch Poniard (K-LOGIR) guided rockets, which have successfully completed the U.S. Department of Defense Foreign Comparative Testing program; an improved Blue Shark lightweight anti-submarine torpedo currently in development; and canister-launched loitering munitions for beyond-horizon precision strikes. Below the waterline, an anti-submarine warfare package built around sonobuoys and a towed array sonar transforms the USV from a pure surface striker into a compact ASW node, able to detect, track and cue weapons against submarines while keeping human crews outside the threat envelope.
The combat system is complemented by a multi-layered sensor and effectors suite intended to cope with the increasingly dense drone environment. Electro-optical/infrared and CCD day cameras provide visual identification and gun/rocket cueing, while electronic support measures and RF antennas feed into the combat management system for emissions detection and threat classification. For counter-drone missions, LIG Nex1 offers two interchangeable mission modules: a high-power microwave payload designed to disrupt the electronics of hostile UAVs and loitering munitions, and a kinetic module combining short-range missiles with a directed-energy laser for precise physical interception. Decoy launchers and a dedicated navigation radar round out the defensive fit, giving Sea Sword-X the ability not only to fight but also to protect itself and nearby assets in a contested electromagnetic environment. On the command-and-control side, the vessel is designed from the outset for beyond-line-of-sight operations, using low-Earth-orbit satellite links and tethered communication drones to maintain stable connectivity with a shore-based control station or a manned mothership.
Sea Sword-X sits at the intersection of Korea’s Navy Sea GHOST manned–unmanned teaming vision and emerging international concepts of distributed maritime operations. The platform can be remotely piloted or operate with a high degree of autonomy, including coordinated swarm manoeuvres with other unmanned craft. In high-risk scenarios such as minefield reconnaissance, close-in surveillance of hostile ports, or tracking small armed boats around offshore infrastructure, navies can push Sea Sword-X forward while keeping frigates and manned patrol craft at safer stand-off ranges.
Lessons drawn from Ukrainian naval drone campaigns in the Black Sea and Houthi explosive USV attacks on merchant shipping in the Red Sea have highlighted both the vulnerability of traditional hulls and the disruptive potential of small unmanned strike craft. In that context, Sea Sword-X is designed not simply as a sensor or decoy, but as a fully armed node that can contribute to layered sea denial, convoy escort and coastal defence. Its mix of gun, rocket, torpedo, loitering munition and electronic-attack options provides commanders with a spectrum of responses, from warning shots and non-lethal drone disruption up to coordinated strikes against fast inshore attack craft or submarines trying to exploit shallow waters.
The tactical value of such a craft is particularly clear in the Gulf operating environment. The confined waters of the Arabian Gulf, the approaches to the Strait of Hormuz and the busy lanes of the Arabian Sea all compress reaction times and increase the premium on persistent surveillance and rapid engagement at short notice. Regional navies and coast guards must simultaneously monitor state actors fielding swarms of small boats, non-state groups experimenting with explosive drone vessels, and a commercial shipping pattern that leaves little margin for error.
Sea Sword-X’s low signature allows it to blend into that clutter while its sensor mast and torpedo/rocket armament equip it to track and, if necessary, neutralize threats without exposing human crews. Deploying multiple USVs in a picket line or mesh network could extend the situational awareness of a UAE or Saudi corvette by tens of nautical miles, turning the mother ship into a command node that orchestrates remote fires rather than physically closing with every contact. The ASW suite, though compact, also offers Gulf navies an additional option for monitoring diesel-electric submarines operating in shallow littorals, an area where traditional towed-array frigates face manoeuvrability and survivability constraints.
Bringing Sea Sword-X to UMEX 2026 places LIG Nex1 squarely inside a regional competition that is accelerating on several fronts. All six Gulf Cooperation Council states are investing in uninhabited and autonomous systems and many are partnering with US Central Command’s Task Force 59 to integrate unmanned platforms and AI into maritime operations. The UAE and Qatar in particular have signalled their intent to deploy armed USVs for harbour protection, offshore energy security and sea-lane monitoring, with Qatar’s Barzan Holdings unveiling its own armed unmanned surface vessel at DIMDEX 2026 in Doha, as reported by Army Recognition Group.
In this environment, Sea Sword-X offers a ready-made, heavily armed solution that can be integrated into existing command architectures or paired with local shipyards through co-production and customization agreements. For Seoul, the platform also serves as an instrument of industrial diplomacy: by positioning Korean “K-maritime” solutions as interoperable, export-ready building blocks, LIG Nex1 is seeking to diversify Gulf partners’ dependence beyond US and European suppliers while dovetailing with their desire to develop indigenous naval industries.
Beyond immediate sales prospects, Sea Sword-X illustrates how the architecture of naval power in the Gulf could evolve over the coming decade. If Gulf navies procure such systems at scale and network them with aerial drones, seabed sensors and manned surface combatants, maritime security could shift from platform-centric task groups toward distributed constellations of smaller, attritable nodes. That would complicate the planning of any actor contemplating coercive actions against shipping or offshore energy assets, since they would face not a handful of high-value targets but a crowded battlespace of unmanned sentinels and strike assets. At the same time, the democratization of naval strike capability through USVs raises difficult questions about escalation control, attribution and rules of engagement, issues that regional commanders and policymakers will need to address in parallel with procurement decisions.
By choosing UMEX 2026 as a showcase for Sea Sword-X, LIG Nex1 is aligning its next-generation combat USV with a market that is moving rapidly toward networked, unmanned maritime defence. The platform’s combination of stealth hull, multi-mission modularity, layered weapons and long-range connectivity offers Gulf states a realistic path to strengthening coastal defence, securing critical sea lanes and experimenting with manned–unmanned teaming at sea, while limiting the exposure of crews in high-risk environments. How far regional navies go in embracing such systems will depend on budgets, doctrine and political appetite, but the message from Abu Dhabi is clear: in the era of explosive drone boats and long-range precision strikes, the side that can turn unmanned surface vessels into coherent combat networks will hold a decisive advantage in the crowded waters of the Gulf.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.