CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand \u2014 Three South Korean companies have started mass producing a medium-altitude reconnaissance drone for the country\u2019s Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government\u2019s Defense Acquisition Program Administration announced the work Jan. 25 amid efforts to bolster surveillance of North Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government inked the procurement deal Dec. 21 with prime contractor Korean Air Aerospace Division, plus subsystem partners LIG Nex1 and Hanwha Systems. According to DAPA, the 471.7 billion won (U.S. $353.6 million) contract will see Korean Air \u201csequentially deliver\u201d an undisclosed quantity of unmanned aircraft to the South Korean Air Force. Delivery is expected to continue into 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Korean Air refers to this aircraft as the KUS-FS, whereas DAPA calls it a medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to specifications released by the original equipment manufacturer, the platform has a 25-meter (82-foot) wingspan and length of 13 meters (43 feet). A Korean Air engineer told Defense News at the Seoul ADEX trade show in October that the aircraft\u2019s endurance exceeds 30 hours. A Hanwha Aerospace-made 1,200-horsepower turboprop engine offers a cruise speed of approximately 190 knots (219 mph).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Equipped with satellite communications technology as well as Ku-band and ultra-high frequency-band line-of-sight data links, operators can control the drone from either a fixed-site ground control station or a trailer-mounted, 40-foot container for greater mobility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The aircraft includes a LIG Nex1 X-band synthetic aperture radar, and can perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; electronic warfare; signals intelligence missions; and communications relay in midair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four underwing hardpoints are visible on the prototype, indicating the unarmed drone may evolve into a combat-capable UAV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DAPA said in a news release that the platform is South Korea\u2019s first domestically developed strategic UAV. \u201cIt is expected that the Korean military\u2019s independent surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities will advance dramatically in the future,\u201d the agency stated, given the drone can perform real-time monitoring of neighboring North Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Work on this project began 16 years ago under the aegis of the Agency for Defense Development. The UAV\u2019s maiden flight occurred in 2012, with a Korean Air official telling Defense News that it has since undergone \u201chundreds of test flights.\u201d Testing was supposed to wrap up in 2019, but the schedule was delayed several years to ensure the drone\u2019s reliablility before it entered service, the representative explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Development concluded in March 2022, at which time it was determined to be suitable for operations. Governmental approval to proceed with production was subsequently granted last August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe expect that the mass production project for the MUAV will improve our military\u2019s surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, and contribute to the increase in defense industry exports in the future,\u201d Kim Tae-gon, director of DAPA\u2019s advanced technology division, said in the agency\u2019s release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed, the drone\u2019s export potential is important to the government, although DAPA suggested other national agencies will eventually operate modified variants, specifically the Korea Forest Service for monitoring fires and the Korea Coast Guard. However, an industry source told Defense News that such agencies do not have enough money to buy and operate such sophisticated systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Four underwing hardpoints are visible on the prototype, indicating the unarmed drone may evolve into a combat-capable UAV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":118267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":57,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,29,13,32,57,21],"tags":[8480],"coauthors":[3379],"class_list":["post-36883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-industry","category-newsletters","category-uas","category-unmanned","tag-south-korea"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"SDACW2JA2VBAVGN2HXXKFBSDRQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/unmanned\/2024\/02\/01\/korean-air-begins-producing-reconnaissance-drone-for-souths-military\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n