Hanwha Launches 'Nabi' in the Skies

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] Hanwha Systems Co., Ltd. has been selected as the industry representative for the 'UAM Team Korea,' an industry-academia-research-government consortium for Korea Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM) led by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and attended the inauguration ceremony.

Hanwha Systems, which entered the UAM market for the first time in Korea last July, plans to lead the Korean urban air mobility industry as a member of 'UAM Team Korea' by discovering new tasks in the 'K-UAM' roadmap and promoting collaboration among participating entities.

Hanwha Systems has already invested approximately 30 billion KRW in Overair, a leading PAV development company in the United States, and dispatched key engineers locally to actively participate in the entire development process of the 'Butterfly' aircraft.

The 'Butterfly,' which applies Hanwha Systems' sensor, radar, communication, and avionics technologies along with Overair's patented 'energy-saving flight technology,' is an electric vertical takeoff and landing (e-VTOL) aircraft equipped with four tilt rotors, ensuring a high level of safety and reliability.

It enables continuous operation through fast charging and can travel from Seoul to Incheon in about 20 minutes at a maximum speed of 320 kilometers per hour. The fare is also expected to be competitively priced, with little difference compared to premium taxi costs, as predicted in the ‘K-UAM Roadmap.’

Additionally, the noise level has been developed to be more than 15 decibels lower than that of helicopters, enabling a quieter and more eco-friendly air taxi, making it an aircraft optimized for urban mobility services.

Hanwha Systems plans to gradually expand its business not only in aircraft development but also in ground infrastructure and operation services under the vision of becoming a 'Global UAM Solution Provider.'

Accordingly, it plans to launch UAM pilot operation services for the general public starting in 2026 and gradually expand service areas until 2029 for commercialization.

Meanwhile, Hanwha Systems is also participating in the Korea Aerospace Research Institute-led project ‘Development of Future Autonomous Personal Air Vehicle (OPPAV) Technology,’ developing the ‘Flight Control Computer,’ a core device for flight safety of the aircraft.

Kim Yeon-cheol, CEO of Hanwha Systems, stated, "We will do our best to create a domestic UAM industry ecosystem based on the experience and technology gained through early entry into the UAM industry," adding, "We will further expand cooperative relationships with leading domestic and international companies and discover comprehensive business opportunities to leap forward as a 'Global UAM Solution Provider.'"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.