Korean Air was selected on Aug. 12 as the preferred bidder for the Korea Defense Development Agency’s (DDA) stealth unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) squadron development project.
Primarily known for being South Korea’s flag carrier, Korean Air, through its Aerospace division, has extensive experience in the manufacture of military and civilian aircraft components, as well as major maintenance for Korean and U.S. Air Force units. It also has significant in-house development of drones and UAVs of all types, both civilian and military. And as reported in the press release, it was precisely this technology and experience that enabled the company to win the bid.
The stealth UAV squadron program is being developed by the DDA as part of its “Future Challenge Defense Technology R&D Project.” Development work began in November last year and the basic design has already been completed. The agency plans to work on the detailed design with Korean Air.
Korean Air will develop a manned-unmanned teaming system in which one manned aircraft and three to four stealth UAVs can carry out missions simultaneously. The squadron of UAVs will not only support and escort a manned aircraft, but will also be able to perform its own missions including surveillance, electronic interference tactics, and precise shooting.
Korean Air has continued to acquire core stealth UAV technologies by participating in projects such as the joint development of stealth UAVs with the ADD in 2010 in which it succeeded in a test flight for the first time in Korea. Korean Air also joined a project last year to research and develop technology for broadband stealth UAVs for the Korea Research Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Advancement (KRIT).
Meanwhile, the company plans to utilize its capabilities gained from over 20 years in UAV development to secure next-generation core technologies for stealth UAVs such as manned-unmanned teaming, cluster control and autonomous mission execution, and become a forefront runner in the development of stealth drones in Korea
