The military on Tuesday began a pilot operation of a drone detection and jamming system to better respond to growing threats by small unmanned aerial vehicles, the arms procurement agency said.

For the next six months, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force will operate the radar system capable of detecting drones as small as the size of a baseball within 8 kilometers of distance and incapacitating them with jammers when identified as an unauthorized vehicle, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

The system, aimed at preventing drones from approaching military facilities, was developed with the country's indigenous technologies in the face of increasing military use of drones across the globe, it said.

"Our air defense capabilities to protect major military infrastructure are expected to be upgraded further by preparing against the new threats posed by drones," Kim Il-dong, a senior agency official, said.

The system was developed by a local company under a 4.84 billion-won ($4.3 million) deal last year and underwent a six-month production and inspection period. (Yonhap)